Do Foreign Gifts Buy Corporate Political Action? Evidence from the Saudi Crude Discount Program
研究1991-2003年沙特阿美对美国炼油厂的原油折扣（约85亿美元），发现折扣租金被炼油厂转化为利润，并导致其政治捐款增加和策略性重新分配，首次实证石油作为政治杠杆工具。
Between 1991 and 2003, Saudi Aramco sold crude to U.S. refineries at a substantial discount, with a total cost of approximately 8.5 billion dollars. This paper assesses the incidence of these discount rents in the U.S. market and yields the first empirical evidence for the use of oil as a tool of political leverage through transfers to American firms. Using panel variation in discount receipts, I find that rents were captured by refiners as profits. Discounts were also associated with increases in refiners’ political donations and strategic reallocations of these contributions.