When Sunshine Gets You Down: Transparency and Sentiment toward the HQ2 Decision

• In Event: Frontiers of Public Policy Theories

Abstract

In 2019, more than 230 local governments sought to attract the second headquarters of Amazon (HQ2). From public relations stunts to multi-billion-dollar economic development incentive packages, state and local governments competed vigorously for the opportunity to be the second home of the conglomerate. Amazon HQ2 presents a unique case of state and local governments competing for the same project in a clearly defined timeframe with varying bids and levels of transparency. Further, it is a rare window into understanding the sentiment of various actors in the economic development policymaking process (e.g., politicians, pro-development actors, media, and the public). In this paper, we exploit the unique properties of the HQ2 bidding process to examine how sentiment was shaped by the transparency of these bids, varied over time, and differed across groups. By analyzing nearly 40,000 geocoded Tweets posted between 2017 and 2021 we find that sentiment was shaped largely by the transparency of the bid, the user’s position in the policymaking process, and the stage of the competition. We find that “sunshine” led to a dark and gloomy view towards these deals as transparency of state and local government bids was associated with the public expressing more negative sentiment towards Amazon HQ2. These findings add to a burgeoning literature on the politics of local economic development, provide one of the first accountings of public perceptions of these large-scale deals over time, and consider the role of transparency in shaping these perceptions. Further, it speaks to how policy decisions to make bids transparent shape citizen engagement around economic development policy.

Authors

• Eric Stokan, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

• Ian G. Anson, University of Maryland, Baltimore County

• Nathan M. Jensen, University of Texas at Austin