The road show continues - Enjoyed presenting "Accountability Illusion" today at the faculty workshop at @fordhamlawnyc.bsky.social, located in Philadelphia's 67th ward: New York City.

Corporations consider spinoffs all the time. Universities don't. If the reason is just empire-building unconstrained by shareholders, that's not a good look for mgmt!

So, if you're a political appointee to a divided agency, acting in good faith, consider new ways for aligned outside experts to engage:
- advisory committees
- interagency coordination
-subsidized participation for heterodox groups
➡️addresses agency costs w/o burning it down.

We find: Divided agencies take more time considering proposed rules & are more likely to accept late-filed comments.

Implies: Appointees use the time to hear from aligned outside experts. Civil servants, aware that their work will be checked, may be more accommodating ex ante.

for more:

- Submerged Indept Agencies, papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

- Strategic Subdelegation, papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

3. Either way, Rs would outvote Ds. So little policy risk to appointing Ds to fill the 2 minority-party seats.

2. Minority-party commissioners serve an important monitoring function. Especially at SEC, where so much is delegated to civil servants but any 1 commissioner can elevate an issue to the full commission.