Sky Blog
The U.S. Supreme Court’s Citizens United v. FEC decision, along with the SpeechNow.org v. FEC court decision, reshaped the landscape of political contributions. By striking down limits on independent expenditures, these rulings opened the door to a new, opaque channel …
In the world of legislative decision-making, one truth holds: U.S. legislators are heavily motivated by re-election. To win votes, they must understand and serve the economic interests of their constituents. This dynamic raises an intriguing question: How do members of …
Last year, an asset manager with offices in New York, Texas, and Vermont was publicly censured by the Securities and Exchange Commission and ordered to pay a substantial fine. Its offense? The asset manager hired an individual who had previously …
Fueled by the landmark decision in Citizens United, which granted corporations essentially the same political speech rights as humans, corporations continually attempt to control political outcomes, ostensibly to promote shareholder value.[1] During the 2022 election cycle, corporations and business …
Shareholder resolutions filed in the 2022 proxy season reflect continuing investor concern over lobbying activities and whether they are consistent with a company’s public positions and aligned with shareholder interests. However, the passage of only two such resolutions indicates that …
Critics of mandatory public disclosure often argue that it may put disclosing firms at a competitive disadvantage by requiring them to reveal potentially proprietary information to rivals. For instance, when the Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) proposed to mandate more …
The process of determining whether big mergers comply with antitrust laws is careful and intensive. The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice reported that in 2011 they examined in detail 40 percent, and initiated second request investigations in …
There is a certain immediate attractiveness associated with the idea of impact investing. The objectives of many impact investors are in some ways similar to those of many critics of capitalist societies: both groups want to contribute to the achievement …
Understanding why firms exist has long been a preoccupation of economists. The leading answers—the ones that have won people Nobel prizes or put them on the short list[1]—focus on the ability of firms to get things done by …
Corporate accounting standards are an important basis for the measurement of firm and managerial performance and for the stewardship of corporate assets in a market economy. Understanding the process that culminates with the creation of accounting standards can provide insights …