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The Politics of CEOs

Author

Listed:
  • Hazan, Moshe
  • Cohen, Alma
  • Weiss, David
  • Tallarita, Roberto
Abstract
CEOs of public companies have influence over the political spending of their firms, which has been attracting significant attention since the Supreme Court decision in Citizens United. Furthermore, the policy views expressed by CEOs receive substantial consideration from policymakers and the public. The political preferences of CEOs, we argue, are therefore important for a full understanding of U.S. policymaking and politics. To contribute to this understanding, we provide empirical evidence on the partisan leanings of public-company CEOs. We use Federal Election Commission (FEC) records to put together a comprehensive database of the political contributions made by over 3,500 individuals who served as CEOs of S&P 1500 companies during the period 2000-2017. We find that these political contributions display substantial partisan preferences in support of Republican candidates. We identify how this pattern is related to the company’s industry, geographical region, and CEO gender. To highlight the significance of CEO’s partisan preferences, we show that public companies led by Republican CEOs tend to be less transparent to investors with respect to their political spending. We conclude by discussing the policy implications of our analysis.

Suggested Citation

  • Hazan, Moshe & Cohen, Alma & Weiss, David & Tallarita, Roberto, 2019. "The Politics of CEOs," CEPR Discussion Papers 13710, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    • Handle: RePEc:cpr:ceprdp:13710
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    8. Bonica, Adam, 2016. "Avenues of influence: on the political expenditures of corporations and their directors and executives," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(4), pages 367-394, December.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hazan, Moshe & Cohen, Alma & Weiss, David, 2021. "Politics and Gender in the Executive Suite," CEPR Discussion Papers 14513, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Dhruv Chand Aggarwal, 2023. "The market for general counsel," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(4), pages 895-940, December.
    3. Fos, Vyacheslav & Kempf, Elisabeth & Tsoutsoura, Margarita, 2021. "The Political Polarization of Corporate America," Working Papers 313, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    4. Bhandari, Avishek & Golden, Joanna, 2021. "CEO political preference and credit ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    5. Richard A. Benton & J. Adam Cobb & Timothy Werner, 2022. "Firm partisan positioning, polarization, and risk communication: Examining voluntary disclosures on COVID‐19," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(4), pages 697-723, April.
    6. Spencer Barnes, 2024. "Discrimination announcements, employee opinion, and capital structure: Evidence from the EEOC," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 59(3), pages 745-777, August.
    7. Fabio Motoki & Valdemar Pinho Neto & Victor Rodrigues, 2024. "More human than human: measuring ChatGPT political bias," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 198(1), pages 3-23, January.
    8. Amin, Qazi Awais & Cumming, Douglas, 2023. "The politician as a CEO, corporate governance and firm value," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political spending; Political contributions; Republicans; Democrats; Ceos; Corporate political influence;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • K2 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law
    • K22 - Law and Economics - - Regulation and Business Law - - - Business and Securities Law

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