The Determinants of Domestic and Foreign Corporate Political Activity

Abstract

Corporate political action committees (PACs) are the focus of much research on corporate political activity Political scientists, economists, and sociologists have explored the determinants of PAC formation and PAC spending by advancing and to some extent testing hypotheses concerning the size of corporations, the regulation of industries, government procurement, social connections, and corporate cultures. Progress has been made in sorting through these hypotheses, although the amount of explained variance remains relatively modest. We define the dependent variable in three ways: the decision to form a PAC, the amount to be contributed, and the number of candidates to be supported. With data largely drawn from Fortune 500 companies for the 1987-1988 election cycle, improved firm-level measures of regulation, and the inclusion of political as well as economic factors influencing corporate decision-making, we develop and provide substantial support for a politically constrained, profit-maximizing model of c...