Blue Skies or Clouds? An Evaluation of State Securities Enforcement

This thesis investigates whether variations in state securities laws are associated with differential rates of enforcement activity across jurisdictions in the US. Using a dataset I created of securities-related enforcement actions filed by 45 jurisdictions from 2017 to 2025, I evaluate two provisions in state blue sky laws: state adoption of the 2002 Uniform Securities Act andthe use of merit-based vs. disclosure-based registration review for Reg A Tier 1 offerings. My findings indicate that state adoption of the 2002 Uniform Securities Act is associated with higher enforcement rates when enforcement actions are measured relative to a state’s securities-industry GDP, but not when measured relative to its number of state-registered investment advisers. No significant relationship is found between registration review and enforcement activity. The study contributes new evidence on the relationship between regulatory design and state-level securities enforcement.