Determinants and Effects of Corporate Lobbying

We examine the determinants and value effects of corporate lobbying, controlling for corporate political action committee (PAC) campaign contributions. We find evidence that firms with greater potential payoffs from favorable policy and regulations lobby most actively, and that managers often utilize both lobbying and campaign contribution channels to influence the political climate affecting the firm. We also find that shareholders value the lobbying activities pursued by management on their behalf, particularly if the firm does not have a PAC that contributed to an election campaign. The results are robust to a number of tests designed to mitigate potential omitted‐variable and self‐selection bias.     

Compatibility Standards And Industry Competition: Two Case Studies

Case histories of two data communication interfaces provide evidence of complex strategic behavior in the setting of voluntary compatibility standards. These cases show how subtle differences in the design of standards development organizations affect incentives to cooperate, giving rise to systematic venue preferences. Dominant firms prefer more bureaucratic procedures offering greater protection for the status quo. The two interfaces, FDDI (under development in X3) and DQDB (under development in the IEEE) shed light on competition between the computer and telecommunications industries and the evolution of our communications infrastructure. They demonstrate the importance of standards for intra- and inter-industry competition.     

Informal trail creation: hiking,trail running,and mountain bicycling in shortgrass prairie

This study considers initial impacts on vegetation cover caused by mountain bicycling, trail running, and hiking in a shortgrass prairie environment. Vegetation cover measurements were taken at multiple intervals following experimental recreational use on three uphill and three downhill trail segments. All three activities caused statistically significant increases in bare ground cover between the first baseline measurement and post-treatment sampling one year later. Short-term effects were more variable: walking and bicycling caused statistically significant increases in bare ground, but running did not. The study suggests that impacts to vegetation differ not just between uses, but also within a single type of recreational activity depending upon site-specific characteristics, and that the timing of use and recovery are important factors in informal trail creation. The rapid creation of trail impacts also has management implications, especially as recreational pressures increase and recreationists seek more challenging terrain and opportunities off-trail. This research suggests that the dynamics of trail formation from running deserve further attention and likely differ from hiking or mountain biking impacts.     

Trust,regulation, and contracting institutions

This paper demonstrates that trust directly influences contracting efficiency. We document that trust reduces demand for contract regulation and positively relates to a high‐quality contracting environment, supporting a substitution hypothesis. Furthermore, contract regulation no longer leads to poor contracting outcomes. These findings suggest that lack of trust significantly explains inefficient contracting institutions. Based on interaction effects, we note that trust could complement formal enforcement in countries with weak regulation. As regulation increases, trust substitutes for contract regulation. Overall, trust positively promotes efficient contracting by reducing burdensome regulation and providing an alternative to formal contract enforcement.     

Bank runs, information and contagion in the panic of 1893

Contagious bank runs, which spread to both solvent and insolvent banks, should not occur if bank-specific information is provided regularly to the banking public. By mitigating the information asymmetry between banks and depositors, information should restrict runs to insolvent banks. However, official bank statements collected from quarterly reports to local newspapers in Kansas demonstrate that runs did become contagious in the 1893 panic even in an information-rich banking system. Important differences between national and non-national banks were also found, which suggests the maturity of the regulatory system may have played an important role in the panic.     

Comparative Advantage,Trade, and Transboundary Pollution

It is common for studies on trade and environment issues to model trade patterns as driven by environmental considerations. Under conditions of trade liberalization, these studies predict the rise of pollution havens and an increase in global pollution. The extant empirical literature, however, gives only mixed support at best for the notion that trade patterns are influenced by environmental issues. We develop a simple model to investigate whether trade based on traditional comparative advantage may lead to increased global pollution. We find that trade may lead to increased global pollution if both trading nations exhibit increasing marginal disutilities of pollution.     

Automated securities trading

Technological developments have permitted rapid changes in the structures of securities trading markets. These changes call for a reevaluation of regulatory regimes. For example, because divergent market structures competing for order flow may fall within different regulatory structures, the proper allocation of regulatory costs should be weighed. Because of the open access by all investors to all markets that technology permits, regulators need to examine the level of oversight necessary to ensure the protection of investors. Because of existing statutory limits, automated systems may pose particular problems in the U.S. regarding the appropriate levels of regulation for non-intermediated trading and cross-border systems that are regulated by an overseas authority. On another topic, automation facilitates increased transparency. In turn, transparency promotes investor protection, encourages market liquidity, and fosters the efficiency of securities markets by facilitating price discovery and open competition, thus reducing the effects of fragmentation. In the end, because it enhances the efficiency of the market's price discovery function and liquidity, transparancy contributes to the efficient allocation of scarce capital among competing demands for that capital. Finally, regulators should participate in the review of automated systems integrity, especially in the areas of capacity, security, and disaster recovery.National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc.A significant portion of this article appeared in a paper prepared by the Division of Market Regulation of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for the 1991 Annual Conference of the International Organization of Securities Commissions, Panel on Automated Trading, September 26, 1991.The Securities and Exchange Commission, as a matter of policy, disclaims responsibility for any private publication or statements by any of its employees. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the Commission or the other members of the staff of the Commission.Mr. Adkins' contribution to this article occurred while he was a staff member of the Securities and Exchange Commission. The views expressed herein are those of Mr. Adkins only and do not necessarily reflect those of the Commission, the National Association of Securities Dealers, Inc., or members of the staffs of the Commission or the NASD.     

IN A WORD OR TWO,PLACED IN THE MIDDLE: THE INVISIBLE HAND IN SMITH'S TOMES

We explore the conjecture, first hinted at by Peter Minowitz, that Smith deliberately placed his central idea, as represented by the phrase ‘led by an invisible hand’, at the physical centre of his masterworks. The four most significant points developed are as follows: (1) The physical evidence: the expression ‘led by an invisible hand’ occurs pretty much dead centre of the 1st and 2nd editions of The Wealth of Nations (WN), and of the final edition of the tomes containing The Theory of Moral Sentiments (TMS). (2) The rhetoric lectures show that Smith not only was conscious of deliberate placement of potent words at the centre, but thought it significant enough to remark on to his pupils, noting that Thucydides ‘often expresses all that he labours so much in a word or two, sometimes placed in the middle of the narration’. (3) The invisible‐hand paragraphs in TMS and WN both contend with Rousseau and hearken back to the Rousseau passages that Smith had translated and provided in his 1756 article on literature. (4) There are numerous and rich ways in which centrality and middleness hold special and positive significance in Smith's thought.     

Shareholder Returns from Supplying Trade Credit

We examine shareholder wealth implications of supplying financing to customers. Robust results suggest that excess returns and changes in trade receivables are directly and significantly related. Further evidence indicates the value of receivables is higher for suppliers with stronger motives relating to operating and contracting costs. The results also suggest a discounted value of receivables for financially unconstrained firms. Overall, we conclude that investors recognize trade credit as an effective instrument in mitigating frictions hindering sales growth. Thus, certain suppliers are positioned to derive increased strategic benefits from credit policy.