Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • 2022
  • Working Paper
  • HBS Working Paper Series

The Political Polarization of Corporate America

By: Vyacheslav Fos, Elisabeth Kempf and Margarita Tsoutsoura
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:53
ShareBar

Abstract

Executive teams in U.S. firms are becoming increasingly partisan. We establish this new fact using political affiliations from voter registration records for top executives of S&P 1500 firms between 2008 and 2020. The new fact is explained by both an increasing share of Republican executives and increased assortative matching by executives on political affiliation. Departures of politically misaligned executives are value-destroying for shareholders, implying the increasing political polarization of corporate America may not be in the financial interest of shareholders.

Keywords

Political Polarization; Partisanship; Executives; Government and Politics; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

Citation

Fos, Vyacheslav, Elisabeth Kempf, and Margarita Tsoutsoura. "The Political Polarization of Corporate America." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-003, July 2022.

Supplemental Information

Internet Appendix
  • SSRN
  • Read Now

About The Author

Elisabeth Kempf

Finance
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • June 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Optimalen Capital Spreadsheet Supplement

    By: Malcolm Baker, Elisabeth Kempf and Jonathan Wallen
    • June 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Optimalen Capital

    By: Malcolm Baker, Elisabeth Kempf and Jonathan Wallen
    • May 2023
    • Journal of Financial Economics

    Political Ideology and International Capital Allocation

    By: Elisabeth Kempf, Mancy Luo, Larissa Schäfer and Margarita Tsoutsoura
More from the Authors
  • Optimalen Capital Spreadsheet Supplement By: Malcolm Baker, Elisabeth Kempf and Jonathan Wallen
  • Optimalen Capital By: Malcolm Baker, Elisabeth Kempf and Jonathan Wallen
  • Political Ideology and International Capital Allocation By: Elisabeth Kempf, Mancy Luo, Larissa Schäfer and Margarita Tsoutsoura
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College