The Magazine of Corporate Responsibility

Archive for September, 2011

Fulfilling the Promise of ‘Citizens United’

The authors of a new research paper say the Supreme Court’s 2010 Citizens United decision to permit corporations to spend unlimited sums to influence federal elections was premised on two yet-unfulfilled promises: Corporations would disclose their expenditures, and shareholders would be able to police such spending. Action by the SEC to require disclosure, they argue, might now “prove to be a favor” to businesses – and actually increase corporate valuations.

Corporate Governance Matters: Lessons for Practitioners

Stanford University professor David Larcker says context is critical in the choices that organizations make in designing governance systems and the impact those choices have on executive decision-making and the organization’s performance. “There is no question to us that ‘governance matters,’” he writes. “The fundamental challenge is to understand when and how it matters.”

The Better Light Bulb Debate

The Better Use of Light Bulbs (BULB) Act (H.R. 2417) was a failed attempt in July 2011 by some Republicans in the House to repeal a 2007 law mandating increased efficiency for light bulbs sold anywhere in the U.S. Sponsors of the bill cited the 2007 bulb efficiency requirements—whereby light bulbs must be 25 to 30 percent more efficient by 2014 and then as much as 60 percent more efficient by 2020—as a key example of how government overreaches its authority.