Papers & Opinions

Electoral politics | Empirics | Political institutions

Mega-Donors and Representation of the Wealthy in the Wake of Citizens United

Paper

Posted on 25 April 2024

By Guosong Xu

We document that in the wake of the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision, which increased in the ability of the wealthy to finance political campaigns, the share of total electoral...
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Empirics | Financial markets | Political institutions

Financial Market Exposure Increases Generalized Trust, Particularly Among the Politically Polarized

Paper

Posted on 19 April 2024

By Saumitra Jha

How can we build trust, especially in polarized societies? We propose that exposure to broad financial markets—where individuals place their assets in the hands of large groups of unfamiliar agents...
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Empirics | Financial development | Political institutions

Financial Asset Holdings and Political Attitudes

Paper

Posted on 22 March 2024

By Saumitra Jha

The English Parliament’s struggle for supremacy against monarchical dictatorship during the Civil War (1642–1648) was crucial for the establishment of representative government, yet its lessons continue to be debated. I...
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Corporate finance | Electoral politics | Empirics

Safeguarding Against Populist Expropriation Risk

Paper

Posted on 22 December 2023

By Wei-Fong Pan

This study explores whether firms adjust their liquidity in response to heightened uncertainty and expropriation risk associated with populism. Using an event study approach, we consistently find that firms reduce...
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Banking | Empirics | Regulation

The Implementation of Central Bank Policy in China

Paper

Posted on 27 November 2023

By Yushi Peng

We examine the roles of commercial bank ownership and CEO faction membership in facilitating or in hindering the implementation of central bank policy in China. Both ownership and membership matter:...
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Corporate finance | Political institutions | Special interest politics

3rd Edition of our Conference! An Overview of the Day

Opinion

Posted on 6 November 2023

By Magdalena Rola-Janicka

This year’s edition of the CEPR Conference Series on the Political Economy of Finance took place in the beautiful Wereldmuseum in Rotterdam. This edition gathered a great lineup of scholars...
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Corporate finance | Electoral politics | Theory

Corporate Political Interests in Absentia

Paper

Posted on 5 October 2023

By Stylianos Papageorgiou

We formalize Zingales' (2017) argument about the link between corporate economic characteristics and political influence in a setup that exhibits an inverse relationship between citizens' participation in production and the...
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Electoral politics | Empirics | Financial markets | Regulation

Is Sustainable Finance a Dangerous Placebo?

Paper

Posted on 18 July 2023

By Stefano Ramelli

A first-order concern regarding sustainable finance is that it may crowd out individual support for more effective, policy-driven approaches to address societal challenges. We test the validity of this concern...
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Corporate finance | Empirics | Political institutions

Going Extreme: The Impact of Political Polarization on Corporate Investment

Paper

Posted on 11 May 2023

By Tiecheng Leng

Using data on roll-call voting patterns of U.S. state legislators from 1993 to 2016, we find a negative relationship between firm investment and state legislative polarization, measured as the ideological...
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Central banking | Political institutions | Regulation

Central Bank Independence in Latin America: Politicization and De-delegation

Paper

Posted on 20 April 2023

By Ana Carolina Garriga

In the last three decades, legal delegation of monetary policy to independent central banks (CBI) has achieved the status of a global norm of good governance. The recent backlash against this...
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Financial markets | Political institutions | Regulation

Transnational Market Abuse and the Politics of Surveillance Delegation in the EU

Paper

Posted on 29 March 2023

By Miles Kellerman

National surveillance is often insufficient to identify transnational issues. One solution to this problem is to delegate to international organizations (IOs) the power to surveil activity in numerous states simultaneously,...
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Banking | Central banking | Empirics

Connected Lending of Last Resort

Paper

Posted on 9 February 2023

By Kris Mitchener

Because of secrecy, little is known about the political economy of central bank lending. Utilizing a novel, hand-collected historical daily dataset on loans to commercial banks, we analyze how personal...
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Central banking | Empirics | Political institutions

(In)dependent Central Banks

Paper

Posted on 25 January 2023

By Alex Michaelides

Since the 1980s many countries have reformed the institutional framework governing their central banks to increase operational independence. Collecting systematic biographical information, international press coverage, and independent expert opinions, we...
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Empirics | Financial markets | Media

The Stock Market’s Response to the Political Affiliation of News Sources

Paper

Posted on 7 November 2022

By Alberto Manconi

We use the acquisition of Dow Jones & Co. by News Corporation in 2007 to study whether investors respond to a news source’s political affiliation. Following the acquisition, the price...
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Financial markets | Media

Friends in Low Places: The Impact of Political Scandals on Connected Firms’ Stock Prices

Paper

Posted on 24 October 2022

By Susanne Preuss

Having “friends in high places” can bring many benefits. But what happens if these “friends” are involved in shady business dealings, use taxpayer funds to finance lavish offices or vacations,...
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