Ray Fisman

Ray Fisman holds the Slater Family Chair in Behavioral Economics at Boston University. Previously, he was the Lambert family professor of Social Enterprise and co-director of the Social Enterprise Program at Columbia University’s business school. Professor Fisman’s research –focused on various aspects of political economy and behavioral economics – has been published in leading economics journals including the American Economic Review, Journal of Political Economy, and Quarterly Journal of Economics; this work has been widely covered in the popular press, in such outlets as the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, the Economist, and the Washington Post. His most recent book, Corruption: What Everyone Needs to Know (with political scientist Miriam Golden), was published by Oxford University Press in 2017.

Investing in Influence: Investors, Portfolio Firms, and Political Giving

A new paper examines the relationship between the rising concentration in institutional investors' ownership of publicly traded U.S. firms and portfolio companies'...

“Comments for Sale”: Charitable Donations Can Lead Non-profits to Support Corporate Regulatory Agendas

A new paper shows how financial ties between companies and non-profits can subvert rulemaking process and lead to regulations that favor the...

When Taxpayers Subsidize Corporate Lobbying: How Firms Use Charitable Giving to Influence Politics

A new Stigler Center working paper examines a more roundabout way that companies can influence legislators: by donating money to charities in lawmakers’ districts....

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Letters that Matter: How Interest Groups Shape Financial Legislation

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Are There Really Gender Pay Differences in the CEO Labor Market?

The gender pay gap is a well-documented phenomenon in global labor markets, but this gap does not seem to apply to the...

How Many Banks Are at Risk of Insolvency Right Now?

Given the recent banking turmoil and failure of SVB and Signature and issues in First Republic, it is important to understand the...

The Challenges of Regulating Disinformation

In response to rising concerns about political disinformation, governments have introduced a slew of interventions. Federico Vaccari warns in new research that...

India’s Evolving Industrial Policy Is Critical for Realizing Its Development Vision

Industrial policy was once so out of fashion that it was jokingly called “the policy that shall not be named.” Now it’s...