Tax-Exempt Lobbying: Corporate Philanthropy as a Tool for Political Influence

Abstract

We explore the role of charitable giving as a means of political influence. For philanthropic foundations associated with large U.S. corporations, we present three different identification strategies that consistently point to the use of corporate social responsibility in ways that parallel the strategic use of Political Action Committee (PAC) spending. Our estimates imply that 16.1% of corporate charitable giving may be politically motivated, an amount 6.2 times larger than annual PAC contributions and 90% of federal lobbying. Absent of disclosure requirements, charitable giving may be a form of corporate political influence undetected by voters and directly subsidized by taxpayers.

Keywords: Special Interests, Corporate Social Responsibility, Charity, Campaign Contributions, Lobbying

JEL Classification: D72, P48, H7