Known by the company they keep: a study of political campaign contributions made by the United States public accounting profession

Abstract

The U.S. public accounting profession commits substantial financial resources to federal election campaigns. In this paper, we explore the potential motivations for and consequences of those actions. We investigate the political contributions made by the profession during periods of proposed professional reform. We also analyze political contributions made during the 1997–1998 U.S. federal election cycle, with the intent of identifying systematic relationships between the levels of those contributions and the ideological profiles of the legislators receiving them. We argue that the profession is engaged politically in the management of its professional role in society and in the support of large clients’ interests. We also argue that the legislators supported by the profession have legislative agendas that are much broader than those of direct interest to the profession, and therefore the profession’s support may have unintended consequences. Our analyses of contributions data reveal that the profession shows preference for legislators who are sympathetic to pro-business agendas. At the same time, the legislators who receive financial support from the profession tend to favor conservative agendas, and tend to oppose agendas advanced by Civil Rights, Labor, Liberal, and Women’s groups. Our study provides insights into the fundamental role played by the accounting profession in U.S. society and the effects of the profession’s efforts to shape public policy.