Karen E. Schnietz

MEASURING THE COST OF ENVIRONMENTAL AND LABOR PROTESTS TO GLOBALIZATION: An Event Study of the Failed 1999 Seattle WTO Talks

The World Trade Organizations ministers failed to set an agenda for the Millennial Round of trade negotiations during their 1999 Seattle meeting, the first time such a meeting failed since multilateral trade agreements first began in 1947. Additionally, the Seattle meeting encountered unprecedented public protests against the WTO and trade liberalization, and globalization more broadly. How serious were the protests and the failure to commence a new trade round in Seattle? Utilizing an event study, we find that investors bid down the stock price of a portfolio of Fortune 500 firms almost two percent. Moreover, the cost to firms in industries perceived as environmentally or labor-abusive (the specific protest targets) was higher. A sub-sample of firms in abusive industries experienced negative returns of 2.7 percent, which was almost twice the decline for the remaining firms in non-abusive industries. Regression analysis shows that returns were driven primarily by a firms inclusion in an abusive industry, rather than by its level of internationalization. Additionally, when the component halves of the abusive sample are analyzed separately, only firms in environmentally abusive industries experienced a statistically significant negative stock decline.

The Capstone Strategy Course: What Might Real Integration Look Like?:

The traditional master of business administration (MBA) capstone strategy course is intended to integrate the prior course work of the MBA program but is doing this less and less well in todays high-velocity and complex business environment. The traditional strategy course structures, emphasizing formulation— implementation and the internal—external environments, do relatively well at developing theoretical and applied integration skills but do poorly in developing practical integration skills—the very skills increasingly demanded by employers. The authors do not believe that the traditional organization of and pedagogies for the capstone strategy course develop the level of integrated thinking necessary for managers to make good decisions in todays business environment. They suggest reorganizing the strategy capstone course along the levels of managerial decision making and emphasizing pedagogies that employ rich-enough cases and business simulations to better develop integration skills—particularly practical integration skills—in MBA students.

Determinants of Foreign Trade Mission Participation An Analysis of Corporate Political and Trade Activities

The selection process for firm participation on foreign trade missions during the Clinton administration has received much attention. Although critics said seats were exchanged for political contributions, government officials argued they selected internationally competitive firms capable of leveraging the contacts the mission provided. This article provides empirical evidence consistent with both claims. Firms with high levels off oreign trade competency were almost six times more likely to be chosen for participation than firms with little international experience, whereas firms making large soft money donations were five times more likely to be chosen for participation than firms making no soft money donations.

Democrats' 1916 Tariff Commission: Responding to Dumping Fears and Illustrating the Consumer Costs of Protectionism

The 1916 Tariff Commission, created to provide expert analyses of tariffs, is an example of Progressive-Era reliance on technical analysis. However, the Commission was motivated not only by a desire to improve technical understanding of tariffs, but also by distinctly political goals. President Woodrow Wilson and Treasury Secretary McAdoo adopted this Republican invention in response to pressure to prevent potential foreign “dumping” after the First World War. Congressional Democrats supported the Tariff Commission for this and an additional reason: they hoped Commission analyses of the consumer welfare costs of protectionism would undermine future electoral support for Republican high-tariff candidates.