Papers & Opinions

Empirics | Political institutions | Special interest politics

Foreign Influence in US Politics

Paper

Posted on 4 April 2022

By Max Miller

We provide the first large-sample evidence of foreign influence in US politics, showing that meetings between foreign countries and legislators affect government resource allocation directly for countries and indirectly for...
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Banking | Empirics | Special interest politics

Winning Connections? Special Interests and the Sale of Failed Banks

Paper

Posted on 16 March 2022

By Deniz Igan

We study how banks’ special interests affect the resolution of failed banks. Using a sample of FDIC auctions between 2007 and 2016, we find that bidding banks that lobby regulators...
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Electoral politics | Empirics | Financial markets

Investor Rewards to Climate Responsibility: Stock-Price Responses to the Opposite Shocks of the 2016 and 2020 US Elections

Paper

Posted on 28 January 2022

By Stefano Ramelli

Donald Trump's 2016 election and his nomination of climate skeptic Scott Pruitt to head the Environmental Protection Agency drastically downshifted expectations about U.S. policy toward climate change. Joseph Biden's 2020...
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Banking | Empirics | Political institutions

Bailouts and Political Connections of Bank Boards

Paper

Posted on 17 January 2022

By Pia Huettl

This paper investigates the political ties of too-big-to-fail bank boards in crisis times. We argue that after a bailout, governments are likely to influence bank board compositions to secure control...
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Banking | Empirics | Special interest politics

The Politics of the Paycheck Protection Program

Paper

Posted on 8 December 2021

By Thomas Lambert

This paper examines the incidence of special interests in the allocation of loans through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). We find that lobbying at the firm and industry levels helps...
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Empirics | Financial markets | Political institutions

House of Funds

Paper

Posted on 15 November 2021

By Nataliya Gerasimova

I document that political connections are an important driver of investment strategies of U.S. mutual funds. I collect data on mutual fund holdings of U.S. Congress members and equity holdings...
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Corporate finance | Empirics | Political institutions

The Effect of Female Leadership on Contracting from Capitol Hill to Main Street

Paper

Posted on 18 October 2021

By Nataliya Gerasimova

This paper provides novel evidence that female politicians increase the proportion of US government procurement contracts allocated to women-owned firms. The identification strategy uses close elections for the US House...
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Banking | Central banking | Electoral politics | Empirics | Political institutions

Central Banks in Parliaments

Paper

Posted on 10 October 2021

By Nicolo Fraccaroli

This paper investigates whether parliamentary hearings are effective in holding central banks accountable against their mandates. To this end, it applies text analysis on the hearings of the Bank of...
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Central banking | Empirics | Financial markets | Regulation

The Partisanship of Financial Regulators

Paper

Posted on 27 September 2021

By Matthew Henriksson

We analyze the partisanship of Securities and Exchange Commissioners (SEC) and members of the Federal Reserve Board of Governors (Fed). Using the language-based approach of Gentzkow, Shapiro, and Taddy (Econometrica,...
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Empirics | Financial markets | Political institutions | Theory

Democratization, Inequality, and Risk Premia

Paper

Posted on 21 September 2021

By Max Miller

Risk premia are significantly elevated during periods of democratization in a cross-country panel of equity data covering 85 countries over 200 years, despite little evidence of a negative effect on...
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Banking | Electoral politics | Empirics | Political institutions

The Costs of Political Misalignment: Forest Fires and Bank Loans in Turkey

Opinion

Posted on 16 September 2021

By Orkun Saka

Recent wildfires in Turkey have not only destroyed more than 95,000 hectares of its coastal forestland but also divided the country further into its political colors. This piece discusses the...
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Banking | Empirics | Regulation

Aspects of the Political Economy of the European Banking Union

Opinion

Posted on 6 September 2021

By Lena Tonzer

The regulatory architecture of the financial system has significantly changed after the global financial crisis of 2008/09. In Europe, the introduction of the Single Rulebook has been a major change...
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Corporate finance | Empirics

Political Attitudes, Partisanship, and Merger Activity

Paper

Posted on 2 September 2021

By Ran Duchin

We demonstrate that similarity in employees’ political attitudes plays an important role in mergers and acquisitions. Using detailed data on employees’ campaign contributions to Democrats and Republicans, we find that...
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Empirics | Political institutions | Special interest politics

Why We Don’t Write More Papers on Political Finance

Opinion

Posted on 17 August 2021

By Orkun Saka

Despite the commonly held views of economists on regulatory capture, our profession has been much more hesitant in recognising similar conflicts of interests that may exist in economics research. This...
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Banking | Electoral politics | Empirics

Lending Cycles and Real Outcomes: Costs of Political Misalignment

Paper

Posted on 30 July 2021

By Orkun Saka

We document a strong political cycle in bank credit and industry outcomes in Turkey. In line with theories of tactical redistribution, state-owned banks systematically adjust their lending around local elections...
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