The Private Interests of Public Officials

Financial Regulation in the US Congress

Datos Bibliográficos

ID6301466
AutoresJordan Carr Peterson (0000-0003-3436-9263, North Carolina State University), Christian R Grose (0000-0002-3719-3155, University of Southern California)
Año2021
Volumen46
Número1
Páginas49-84
Fecha de publicación2021-02-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaLegislative Studies Quarterly (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0362-9805 • E-ISSN: 1939-9162
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/lsq.12294
OpenAlexW3081435902
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas8
Referencias citadas42

Legislators' private financial holdings affect policy decisions. Due to financial self‐interest, we theorize that legislators whose personal investment portfolios include equities from firms affected by proposed policies vote for legislation that benefits those firms. We also theorize that legislators with greater personal exposure to equity investments support policies that benefit equities markets generally. We create a novel data set of legislators' personal stock investments and examine major congressional actions since the 1990s on financial deregulation and market intervention. US House members who own stocks in firms who benefit from financial deregulation vote for deregulation. House members with greater exposure to financial and automotive stocks support the financial and auto bailouts, respectively. General exposure to equities markets is also associated with support for key legislation boosting markets. The normative implications are significant, as legislators' private interests influence decisions in the public sphere

Business · Deregulation · Economics · Equity (law · Financial market · Financial market participants · Financial regulation · Financial services · Financial system · Indirect finance · Legislation · Market economy · Political science · Private equity · Private equity fund · Private investment in public equity · Fiscal Policies and Political Economy · Housing Market and Economics · Law · Political Influence and Corporate Strategies · Finance