Legislator Incentives - Publications - Faculty & Research

December 2013
Article

Legislating Stock Prices

By: Lauren Cohen, Karl Diether and Christopher Malloy

We demonstrate that legislation has a simple, yet previously undetected impact on stock prices. Exploiting the voting record of legislators whose constituents are the affected industries, we show that the votes of these "interested" legislators capture important... View Details

Keywords: Legislator Incentives; Voting; Return Predictability; Lobbying; Motivation and Incentives; Government Legislation; Stocks

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In this paper we demonstrate that legislation has a simple, yet previously undetected impact on firm stock prices. While it is understood that the government and firms have an important relationship, it remains difficult to determine which firms any given piece of... View Details

16 Jun 2020
Working Paper Summaries

Government Incentives for Entrepreneurship

Keywords: by Josh Lerner

Article

State Activism and the Hidden Incentives Behind Bank Acquisitions

By: Christopher Marquis, Doug Guthrie and Juan Almandoz

A number of studies have shown that, as a result of the ambiguity of U.S. legal mandates, organizations have considerable latitude in how they comply with regulations. In this paper, we address how the different agendas of the federal and state governments increase... View Details

Keywords: Organizations; Opportunities; Government Legislation; Acquisition; Forecasting and Prediction; Banks and Banking; Motivation and Incentives; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Management Practices and Processes; Research; United States

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June 2013 (Revised August 2013)
Background Note

Note on Pension Guarantee Funds

By: Robert C. Pozen and Patricia Bissett Higgins

The United States and the United Kingdom both had quasi-government agencies that provided back-up insurance for individuals participating in defined benefit ("DB") pension plans. This note compares and contrasts the United Kingdom's Pension Protection Fund ("PPF") with... View Details

Keywords: Pensions; Pension Guarantee Funds; Pension Protection Fund; Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation; Employee Retirement Income Security Act; PBGC; ERISA; MAP-21; Legislation; Insurance; Saving; Retirement; Labor; Labor and Management Relations; Employees; Insurance Industry; United States; United Kingdom

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March 2019
Article

Evidence of Upcoding in Pay-for-Performance Programs

By: Hamsa Bastani, Joel Goh and Mohsen Bayati

Recent Medicare legislation seeks to improve patient care quality by financially penalizing providers for hospital-acquired infections (HAIs). However, Medicare cannot directly monitor HAI rates and instead relies on providers accurately self-reporting HAIs in claims... View Details

Keywords: Medical Coding; Health Policy; Healthcare-acquired Conditions; Medicare; Health Care and Treatment; Policy; Performance Improvement; Quality; Measurement and Metrics; Government Legislation

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24 Oct 2017
Research & Ideas

Tax Reform is on the Front Burner Again. Here’s Why You Should Care

about tax legislation beyond concern over the amount of the check we write each April 15? Yes, very much so. Our tax policies reflect the values that the country stands for. Do we cut taxes on top earners or redistribute their wealth to... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

01 Jul 2020
News

Fixing U.S. Politics

14 Aug 2012
First Look

First Look: August 14

the more complex the legislation, the more difficulty the market has in assessing the impact of these bills. Consistent with the legislator incentive mechanism, the more concentrated the legislator's... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

07 Jul 2008
Research & Ideas

Innovation Corrupted: How Managers Can Avoid Another Enron

in diverse markets proved a significant challenge. Still, supreme overconfidence and perverse financial incentives led to a gladiator culture in which executives proposed—and risk managers and the board of directors approved—a growing... View Details

Keywords: by Martha Lagace; Energy; Utilities

February 2019 (Revised May 2021)
Case

Electric Car Wars, 2018

By: John R. Wells and Benjamin Weinstock

Electric cars had long been championed by environmentalists as a superior solution to the internal combustion engine (ICE), but, despite large government incentives and strong pioneering efforts by a few automakers over the years, electric and hybrid cars and light... View Details

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16 Apr 2018
News

Tax Reform, Round One

02 Nov 2009
Research & Ideas

Shareholders Need a Say on Pay

“Historically, when the government tries to set limits it doesn't work very well.” Say on pay has been a research focus of HBS assistant professor Fabrizio Ferri, who started his career at Stern Stewart & Co specializing in performance measurement and View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Financial Services

07 Jul 2009
First Look

First Look: July 7

Career penalties for failing to meet the analyst consensus estimate are no different for firms where forecasting earnings is harder. Moreover, such penalties have increased in the post-SOX period. Our evidence suggests that incentives of... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

15 Jun 2012
Working Paper Summaries

Reaching for Yield in the Bond Market

Keywords: by Bo Becker & Victoria Ivashina

July 2009 (Revised June 2010)
Supplement

Executive Pay and the Credit Crisis of 2008 (B)

By: V.G. Narayanan and Lisa Brem

As the recession lingered on into 2009, the U.S. government sought to limit executive pay and excessive risk. The debate raged over what constituted excessive risk and how best to mitigate it. This case describes the government restrictions on executive pay for TARP... View Details

Keywords: Financial Crisis; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Government Legislation; Executive Compensation; Risk Management; Business and Government Relations; Motivation and Incentives; United States

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June 2023 (Revised January 2024)
Case

Chipmaking in the Desert: Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company's Global Expansion

By: William C. Kirby and Noah B. Truwit

On December 6, 2022, in Phoenix, Arizona, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) Executive Chairman Mark Liu outlined the company’s ambitious plans to invest $40 billion to build semiconductor manufacturing plants in Phoenix. The event also celebrated the... View Details

Keywords: Geopolitical Units; Government and Politics; Government Legislation; Expansion; Market Entry and Exit; Semiconductor Industry; Taiwan; United States

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Research Summary

Current Research: Issues in Corporate Governance

Effectiveness of shareholder voting

Reform of shareholder voting is a key component of legislation arising from the financial crisis of 2008. Professor Gow examines the effect of shareholder voting on corporate actions, particularly on... View Details

2023
Working Paper

Market Exclusivity and Innovation: Evidence From Antibiotics

By: Edward Kong and Olivia Zhao

The US incentivizes drug innovation via patents as well as market exclusivity periods awarded by the US Food and Drug Administration. We estimate the causal effects of extending market exclusivity for an important drug class: antibiotics. Using a... View Details

Keywords: Health Testing and Trials; Innovation and Invention; Motivation and Incentives; Government Administration; Government Legislation; Pharmaceutical Industry; United States

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