Abstract
Corporations are facing a growing demand for the transparency of political contributions. In the United States, this demand has largely focused on the implementation of a mandatory disclosure law. It rests on the assumption that legal enforcement can make it easier to observe the ties between corporations and political parties. In this study, I challenge this assumption. I build my case by first developing a conceptual foundation of corporate political transparency (CPT). I argue that in the absence of economic benefits, legal enforcement has a limited effect on CPT. Instead of encouraging transparency, mandatory disclosure can lead to the concealment of corporate political contributions. To develop a model of concealment, I borrow the characterizations of disguise from theatrical drama. Using the context of Indian firms, I show the limitation of mandatory disclosure and the efficacy of regulatory incentive. My study highlights the need for a broader debate on CPT to understand the relative implications of regulatory policies.
| Original language | American English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 644-678 |
| Number of pages | 35 |
| Journal | Business and Society |
| Volume | 58 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Mar 1 2019 |
| Externally published | Yes |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Business, Management and Accounting (miscellaneous)
- Social Sciences (miscellaneous)
Keywords
- India
- campaign contributions
- corporate political activity
- corporate political contributions
- corporate political transparency
- disguise