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Hail to the chief: The effect of political alignment with the presidency on corporate investment

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  • Alhashel, Bader S.

Abstract

We examine the effect of political alignment between the CEO and the US president on corporate investment. We find that when the CEO is from the same party as the President that the adverse effects of policy uncertainty on corporate investment are significantly reduced or eliminated. We arrive at this result after having controlled for investment opportunities, economic uncertainty, and political alignment with Congress. We also find that the political alignment between the CEO and the President has a greater effect on corporate investment for firms in industries with significant exposure to government spending. Our results go to confirm the effects of a country's politics and the occupier of the White House on CEOs’ business and economic outlooks. The results also point out that the effect of the behavioral traits of executives changes depending on the external environment.

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  • Alhashel, Bader S., 2020. "Hail to the chief: The effect of political alignment with the presidency on corporate investment," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:riibaf:v:54:y:2020:i:c:s0275531920302622
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ribaf.2020.101289
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Investment; US President; CEO; Political orientation; Policy uncertainty; Government spending;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D57 - Microeconomics - - General Equilibrium and Disequilibrium - - - Input-Output Tables and Analysis
    • E62 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Macroeconomic Policy, Macroeconomic Aspects of Public Finance, and General Outlook - - - Fiscal Policy; Modern Monetary Theory
    • G31 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Capital Budgeting; Fixed Investment and Inventory Studies
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

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