Do foreign firms engage in domestic politics, and if so, why? I argue that foreign firms, impacted by US policies, employ subsidiaries in the US to represent their political interests in federal elections. Using original data collected for the population of corporate givers during the 2014 and 2016 election cycles, I find US subsidiaries of foreign firms to be significantly more politically active than similarly sized American firms located in the same industry. These subsidiaries are much more likely to sponsor a Political Action Committee and donate in greater amounts. I explore a variety of explanations for this disproportionate political activity, and demonstrate that it is driven in part by the foreign parent firms’ desire to gain a political foothold in the United States. Foreign direct investment therefore serves as an investment in political influence.

中文翻译：

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具有政治影响力的外国直接投资

外国公司是否参与国内政治，如果是，为什么？我认为受美国政策影响的外国公司在美国雇用子公司来代表他们在联邦选举中的政治利益。使用在 2014 年和 2016 年选举周期中为企业捐赠者收集的原始数据，我发现外国公司的美国子公司在政治上比位于同一行业的类似规模的美国公司要活跃得多。这些子公司更有可能赞助政治行动委员会并捐赠更多数额。我探讨了对这种不成比例的政治活动的各种解释，并证明它在一定程度上是由外国母公司在美国获得政治立足点的愿望所驱动的。