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Presidential economic approval rating and the cross-section of stock returns

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  • Chen, Zilin
  • Da, Zhi
  • Huang, Dashan
  • Wang, Liyao

Abstract

We construct a monthly presidential economic approval rating (PEAR) index from 1981 to 2019, by averaging ratings on the president’s handling of the economy across various national polls. In the cross-section, stocks with high betas to changes in the PEAR index significantly under-perform those with low betas by 1.00% per month in the future, on a risk-adjusted basis. The low PEAR beta premium persists up to one year, and is present in various sub-samples and even in other G7 countries. PEAR beta dynamically reveals a firm’s perceived alignment to the incumbent president’s economic policies and investors seem to misprice such an alignment.

Suggested Citation

  • Chen, Zilin & Da, Zhi & Huang, Dashan & Wang, Liyao, 2023. "Presidential economic approval rating and the cross-section of stock returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(1), pages 106-131.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:147:y:2023:i:1:p:106-131
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2022.10.004
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    Cited by:

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    2. Oguzhan Cepni & Riza Demirer & Rangan Gupta & Christian Pierdzioch, 2024. "Political Geography and Stock Market Volatility: The Role of Political Alignment across Sentiment Regimes," Working Papers 202414, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    3. Rangan Gupta & Yuvana Jaichand & Christian Pierdzioch & Reneé van Eyden, 2023. "Realized Stock-Market Volatility of the United States and the Presidential Approval Rating," Mathematics, MDPI, vol. 11(13), pages 1-27, July.
    4. Zhang, Yaojie & He, Mengxi & Liao, Cunfei & Wang, Yudong, 2023. "Climate risk exposure and the cross-section of Chinese stock returns," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PB).
    5. Xiaoqiong Wang & Siqi Wei & Xiaoyang Zhu, 2024. "Economic policy uncertainty and heterogeneous institutional investor horizons," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 39-67, January.
    6. Zhang, Yaojie & Song, Bingheng & He, Mengxi & Wang, Yudong, 2024. "Abnormal temperature and the cross-section of stock returns in China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    7. Rangan Gupta & Christian Pierdzioch & Aviral K. Tiwari, 2024. "Gasoline Prices and Presidential Approval Ratings of the United States," Working Papers 202427, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    8. Yuvana Jaichand & Renee van Eyden & Rangan Gupta, 2024. "Presidential Approval Ratings and Stock Market Performance in Latin America," Working Papers 202411, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
    9. Tarkom, Augustine & Yang, Lukai, 2024. "Presidential economic approval rating and trade credit," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    10. Elie Bouri & Rangan Gupta & Christian Pierdzioch, 2024. "Modeling the Presidential Approval Ratings of the United States using Machine-Learning: Does Climate Policy Uncertainty Matter?," Working Papers 202406, University of Pretoria, Department of Economics.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Presidential puzzle; Political cycle; Presidential economic approval rating; Presidential job approval rating; Sentiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G40 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - General
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets

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