Development Economics Seminar (in person) — Joris Mueller
The next Development Economics Seminar will take place in person.
Date: Monday, 23 February
Time: 14:00–15:00
Location: Historical Observatory (Göttingen)
Speaker: Joris Mueller (National University of Singapore)
Title: Public Displays of Alignment
Lunch (for participants in Göttingen)
Everyone present in Göttingen is welcome to join for lunch before the seminar.
Meeting point: 11:30, Z-Mensa entrance hall
(Please note the different time and location compared to the seminar.)
Online participation (Zoom)
To participate virtually, please log in here: [Zoom link]
Meeting ID: 696 4196 8262
Passcode: 869651
Office hours & dinner (sign-up required)
The speaker will be available for further discussion during office hours after the seminar.
A joint dinner with the speaker will also take place on the day of the seminar.
To participate in office hours and/or dinner, please sign up with your name and email address here.
Abstract
This paper studies corporate public alignment: firm communication that echoes the rhetoric of an autocratic regime. A theoretical model is developed in which public alignment supports political risk-sharing between firms and the regime. By tying their payoffs to the regime’s, aligned firms credibly commit to undertake costly, regime-favored actions in adverse states; in return, the regime becomes less likely to expropriate them.
An empirical measure of public alignment is constructed using a replicable index based on regime-specific phrases in annual reports and applied to Chinese listed firms. The results support the model’s predictions and its key assumption that alignment links firm and regime payoffs: more aligned firms undertake more regime-favored actions during periods of unrest and earn lower profits, while alignment increases when expropriation risk rises. These findings hold after controlling for other forms of state proximity (such as state ownership, political connections, and Party cells) and are difficult to reconcile with alternative explanations such as cheap talk or simple patronage.
Practical notes for Zoom participants
Please install and test Zoom beforehand. During the presentation, microphones should remain muted. Questions can be indicated via the “raise hand” function (under “Participants”). To reduce bandwidth issues, please close unneeded applications and disable HD video if possible.
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