Does "Independent" Mean "Free from Influence?" : Escape Clause Decision-Making at the United States International Trade Commission Book

	Preface
	Acknowledgments
I	Introduction	3
	Motivation	3
	Research Approach	4
	Research Subject	5
	Contributions to Scholarship	7
	Overview of the Book	9
II	Background	11
	The USITC and the Escape Clause	11
	Previous Studies of USITC Decision-Making	13
	Previous Studies of Decision-Making in Other Independent Regulatory Commissions	18
	Summary and Observations	20
III	Theoretical Foundation	23
	Research Perspective	23
	Actors in USITC Decisions	23
	The Commissioners	28
	The Meaning of "Independence"	29
IV	Analysis of Agreement Among Commissioners	35
	Why Study Agreement?	35
	Degree of Agreement Among Commissioners	36
	Measuring the Association Between Commissioner/Vote Characteristic(s) and Agreement	38
	Votes of Politically-Independent Commissioners	39
	Agreement by Political Party	40
	Agreement by Nominating President	41
	Agreement by Occupation Prior to Nomination	45
	Agreement by Sitting President	46
	Agreement by Year of Vote	48
	Agreement by Commission Chair	50
	Conclusions - Agreement Among Commissioners	53
V	Characterizing the Sitting Congress' Trade Sentiments	59
	Why Study Trade Sentiments?	59
	Measurement of Subcommittee Members' Trade Sentiments	60
	Alternative Trade Sentiments Measures	61
	Analysis of the Relationships Among Trade Sentiments Measures	64
	Conclusions - Specifying Congress' Trade Sentiments	73
VI	Determinants of Commissioners' Escape Clause Decisions	77
	Analysis Overview	77
	Empirical Specification - Dependent Variable	78
	Empirical Specification - Independent Variables	79
	Data Sources	90
	Empirical Specification	92
	Tests of Statistical Significance	94
	Tests of Influence from the Enacting Congress	95
	Tests of Influence from All Principals	100
	Commissioner-Specific Variable Model	108
	Commissioner-Specific Regression Results	113
	Tests of Additional Sources of Influence and Alternative Specifications	127
	Conclusions - Determinants of Commissioners' Decisions	138
VII	Conclusions	147
	Appendix A: Digest of the Escape Clause Statute	153
	Appendix B: Supplemental Figures and Tables	155
	References	171
	Data Sources	179
	Index	181