HEPS³ - Amy Pond - Asset Mobility and Property RightsWe welcome Amy Pond (TMU) on December 7, 2022
7. Dezember 2022
The Hamburg Empirical Political Science Seminar Series (HEPS³) features international speakers presenting cutting-edge research in empirical political science and political economy.
We welcome on December 7, 2022; 16:30-18:00 CET in VMP9 S27 & via Zoom
Amy Pond ( Technical University Munich) - Title: Asset Mobility and Property Rights
Abstract: How does asset mobility affect the provision of property rights and prospects for democratization? Extent literature anticipates that firm owners with mobile assets are effective in pressuring the government for property rights (and policy influence to guarantee these property rights), resulting in democratization. In this paper, I examine not just the influence of firm owners but also their preferences. I develop a formal model to show that owners of mobile assets have less to lose from property rights violations, as they may move their assets out of the sovereign’s reach. Moveover, once one considers heterogeneous firms competing with one another, where firms with more immobile assets are more sensitive to government policies, firms with more mobile assets may actually gain a competitive advantage from costly policies (like property rights violations). I evaluate the model propositions drawing on sub-national, state-level data from Mexico. On-average, firms perceive that property rights are better protected in states with production that relies more on mobile assets (despite their expectation that the litigation process will take longer and be more costly). Their perceptions are consistent with the lower need for property rights among firms with more mobile assets.
Keywords: asset mobility, property rights, democratization, firm influence, competition
The HEPS³ seminars take place on Wednesdays in the winter semester 2022/2023 in person in VMP9 and are live-streamed on Zoom.
Please find the preliminary program on the HEPS³ Website.
We invite everyone interested to attend and are looking forward to seeing you.