Empirical Research Database


1		Corporate and Union Spending
2	Date	Title	Author(s)	Citation Type	Data Examined	Question(s) Asked	Key Findings
3	2016	Money in Exile: Campaign Contributions and Committee Access	Eleanor Neff Powell and Justin Grimmer	Academic Journal	Examines the correlation between PAC spending patterns and Congressional committee membership behavior in the 100th and 111th Congresses.	To understand how money influences the legislative process, looking specifically at interests groups’ connections to committee members as a measure of access and influence.	“Corporations and business PACs use donations to acquire immediate access and favor.”
4	2015	Testing the Marketplace of Ideas	Daniel E. Ho and Frederick Schauer	Law Review	Polling information for over 1.3 million voters in Manhattan, New York, and Hudson County, New Jersey in the 2012 general election.	To test whether “[t]he best test of truth is [an] idea’s power to be accepted in the competition of the market.”	“Constitutional law should become more empirical” and“judges should base their decisions on accurate facts.”
5	2014	The Benefits of a Relational Approach to Corporate Political Activity: Evidence from Political Contributions to Tax Policy Makers	Jennifer L. Brown, Katharine D. Drake, and Laura Wellman	Academic Journal	Data on PAC contributions, lobbying expenditures, and the annual accounting statements for more than 2,600 firms from 2000 to 2003 and 2009 to 2012.	To determine whether firms that invest in relationships with tax policymakers via campaign contributions accrue greater future tax benefits.	Firms who give consistently to politicians, including through PACs, are more likely to pay lower tax rates.
6	2012	Corporate Politics, Governance, and Value Before and After Citizens United	John C. Coates, IV	Law Journal	Lobbying activity and PAC contributions to federal candidates by S&P 500 companies from 1998 to 2010.	To understand the relationship between corporate politics, governance, lobbying, and shareholder value in S&P 500 companies in the post-Citizens United era.	Firms in heavily regulated industries are more likely to engage in political activity, and, in some firms, corporate political activity correlates negatively with corporate value.