题　目：Political Transparency and Government Contracts

嘉　宾：Yishu Cai, PhD Candidate, Chinese University of Hong Kong

主　持：范雪青, 助理教授, 上海交通大学

时　间：2025年10月17日（周五）15:30-17:00

地　点：上海交通大学 徐汇校区安泰楼A303室

内容简介:

With the transition toward heightened political transparency, politically active firms may struggle to maintain the political advantages they once enjoyed. How do these firms navigate such an institutional change, and who stands to benefit from the transition? We study how the public disclosure of corporate political donations affects subsequent government contracts. We posit that donor firms will generally experience a decline in government contracts following such exposure due to heightened social scrutiny. However, business groups may exercise leeway by reallocating government contracts from donor to non-donor affiliates within the group. This internal redistribution is more likely to occur from donor affiliates that exert significant control over others to affiliates subject to stronger control, and is especially likely when apex firms hold board positions in these affiliates. This strategic flexibility, however, creates negative externalities for standalone firms. Politically active standalone firms operating in sectors dominated by politically active business groups will experience even greater declines in government contracts after their donations are exposed. We use an abrupt public disclosure event involving corporate political donations within an economy as our empirical context. We find that entrenched interests can constrain the effects of the transition to transparency and, paradoxically, may even benefit from it. This study contributes to the theory of political strategy and the consequences of transparency initiatives, and adds to the literature on business group effects.

演讲人简介：

Yishu Cai is a Ph.D. candidate in Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. His research explores how social forces shape business–political relations and how firms navigate institutional transitions and technological change. Building on a macro–micro perspective, he studies how social activism, regulatory reforms, and technological breakthroughs alter incentives inside organizations and reshape corporate strategy. His current projects examine how organizational actors navigate the artificial intelligence (AI) transition and how institutional and technological shifts recast organizational politics.

He is the lead author of an article published in Administrative Science Quarterly and has other papers under revise-and-resubmit at Administrative Science Quarterly and Strategic Management Journal.At The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Yishu has taught undergraduate modules in leadership theory and family social entrepreneurship. He also served as a teaching assistant across strategy and management courses. He uses a mix of short lectures, case discussions, and small-group activities. His first-authored work has received best-paper awards and grants from the Academy of Management, the International Association for Chinese Management Research, the Strategic Management Society, and The Chinese University of Hong Kong.

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