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Fulfilling Kennedy's Promise

Why the SEC Should Mandate Disclosure of Corporate Political Activity


September 7, 2011 - Publicly held companies that disclose their electoral spending are more valuable than the companies that do not, according to a new report produced by Taylor Lincoln, research director of Public Citizen's Congress Watch division, and Professor John Coates of Harvard Law School.

The report, “Fulfilling Kennedy’s Promise,” analyzed the values of 80 S&P 500 companies that disclose their electioneering spending (including donations to politically active trade associations and front groups) and compared them to the values of S&P 500 companies that do not disclose their electioneering spending. Companies that disclosed their electioneering spending had a 7.5 percent higher industry-adjusted price/book ratio – a commonly used metric to compare values – than other S&P 500 companies as of the end of 2010.

 


 

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