IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/bca/bocawp/24-37.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

An Anatomy of Firms’ Political Speech

Author

Listed:
  • Pablo Ottonello
  • Wenting Song
  • Sebastian Sotelo

Abstract

We study the distribution of political speech across U.S. firms. We develop a measure of political engagement based on firms’ communications (earning calls, regulatory filings, and social media) by training a large language model to identify statements that contain political opinions. Using these data, we document five facts about firms’ political engagement: (1) Political engagement is rare among firms; (2) Political engagement is concentrated among large firms; (3) Firms tend to specialize in specific topics and outlets; (4) Large firms tend to engage in a wider set of topics and outlets; (5) The 2020 surge in firms’ political engagement was associated with an increase in the engagement of medium-sized firms and a change in the mix of political topics.

Suggested Citation

  • Pablo Ottonello & Wenting Song & Sebastian Sotelo, 2024. "An Anatomy of Firms’ Political Speech," Staff Working Papers 24-37, Bank of Canada.
    • Handle: RePEc:bca:bocawp:24-37
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.bankofcanada.ca/2024/10/staff-working-paper-2024-37/
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.bankofcanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/swp2024-37.pdf
    File Function: Full text
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bloom, Nicholas & Davis, Steven J. & Hansen, Stephen & Lambert, Peter John & Sadun, Raffaella & Taska, Bledi, 2023. "Remote work across jobs, companies and space," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 121302, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    2. Melissa Dell, 2024. "Deep Learning for Economists," Papers 2407.15339, arXiv.org, revised Sep 2024.
    3. Stephen Hansen & Michael McMahon & Andrea Prat, 2018. "Transparency and Deliberation Within the FOMC: A Computational Linguistics Approach," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 133(2), pages 801-870.
    4. Bloom, Nicholas & Hassan, Tarek Alexander & Kalyani, Aakash & Lerner, Josh & Tahoun, Ahmed, 2021. "The diffusion of disruptive technologies," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113870, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Xavier Gabaix, 2011. "The Granular Origins of Aggregate Fluctuations," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 79(3), pages 733-772, May.
    6. Kathleen M. Kahle & René M. Stulz, 2017. "Is the US Public Corporation in Trouble?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 31(3), pages 67-88, Summer.
    7. Tarek A Hassan & Stephan Hollander & Laurence van Lent & Ahmed Tahoun, 2019. "Firm-Level Political Risk: Measurement and Effects," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 134(4), pages 2135-2202.
    8. Jonathan Eaton & Samuel Kortum & Francis Kramarz, 2011. "An Anatomy of International Trade: Evidence From French Firms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 79(5), pages 1453-1498, September.
    9. Spencer Y. Kwon & Yueran Ma & Kaspar Zimmermann, 2024. "100 Years of Rising Corporate Concentration," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 114(7), pages 2111-2140, July.
    10. Cecile Gaubert & Oleg Itskhoki, 2021. "Granular Comparative Advantage," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(3), pages 871-939.
    11. Elliott Ash & Stephen Hansen, 2023. "Text Algorithms in Economics," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 15(1), pages 659-688, September.
    12. Pablo Ottonello & Thomas Winberry, 2020. "Financial Heterogeneity and the Investment Channel of Monetary Policy," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 88(6), pages 2473-2502, November.
    13. Gillan, Stuart L. & Koch, Andrew & Starks, Laura T., 2021. "Firms and social responsibility: A review of ESG and CSR research in corporate finance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    14. Elisabeth Kempf & Margarita Tsoutsoura, 2024. "Political Polarization and Finance," NBER Working Papers 32792, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Julian di Giovanni & Andrei A. Levchenko, 2012. "Country Size, International Trade, and Aggregate Fluctuations in Granular Economies," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 120(6), pages 1083-1132.
    16. Aakash Kalyani & Nicholas Bloom & Marcela Carvalho & Tarek Alexander Hassan & Josh Lerner & Ahmed Tahoun, 2021. "The Diffusion of New Technologies," NBER Working Papers 28999, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Matilde Bombardini & Francesco Trebbi, 2020. "Empirical Models of Lobbying," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 391-413, August.
    18. Hart, Oliver D. & Zingales, Luigi, 2022. "The New Corporate Governance," Working Papers 317, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    19. Alan Manning, 2021. "Monopsony in Labor Markets: A Review," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 74(1), pages 3-26, January.
    20. John M. Abowd & Joelle Hillary Abramowitz & Margaret Catherine Levenstein & Kristin McCue & Dhiren Patki & Trivellore Raghunathan & Ann Michelle Rodgers & Matthew D. Shapiro & Nada Wasi & Dawn Zinsser, 2021. "Finding Needles in Haystacks: Multiple-Imputation Record Linkage Using Machine Learning," Working Papers 22-11, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    21. Oliver D. Hart & Luigi Zingales, 2022. "The New Corporate Governance," NBER Working Papers 29975, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Melissa Dell, 2024. "Deep Learning for Economists," NBER Working Papers 32768, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2011. "When Is a Liability Not a Liability? Textual Analysis, Dictionaries, and 10‐Ks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 35-65, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Tarek A. Hassan & Stephan Hollander & Aakash Kalyani & Markus Schwedeler & Ahmed Tahoun & Laurence van Lent, 2024. "Economic Surveillance using Corporate Text," Working Papers 2024-022, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
    2. Fontanelli, Luca & Guerini, Mattia & Napoletano, Mauro, 2023. "International trade and technological competition in markets with dynamic increasing returns," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 149(C).
    3. Wenting Song & Samuel Stern, 2022. "Firm Inattention and the Efficacy of Monetary Policy: A Text-Based Approach," Staff Working Papers 22-3, Bank of Canada.
    4. di Giovanni, Julian & Levchenko, Andrei A. & Rancière, Romain, 2011. "Power laws in firm size and openness to trade: Measurement and implications," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 42-52, September.
    5. Gaubert, Cecile & Itskhoki, Oleg & Vogler, Maximilian, 2021. "Government policies in a granular global economy," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 121(C), pages 95-112.
    6. Görg, Holger & Henze, Philipp & Jienwatcharamongkhol, Viroj & Kopasker, Daniel & Molana, Hassan & Montagna, Catia & Sjöholm, Fredrik, 2017. "Firm size distribution and employment fluctuations: Theory and evidence," Research in Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(4), pages 690-703.
    7. De Sousa, José & Disdier, Anne-Célia & Gaigné, Carl, 2020. "Export decision under risk," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 121(C).
    8. Daruich, Diego & Easterly, William & Reshef, Ariell, 2019. "The surprising instability of export specializations," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 36-65.
    9. Guohua Peng & Fan Xia, 2016. "The size distribution of exporting and non-exporting firms in a panel of Chinese provinces," Papers in Regional Science, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 95, pages 71-85, March.
    10. Pablo Ottonello & Wenting Song, 2022. "Financial Intermediaries and the Macroeconomy: Evidence from a High-Frequency Identification," Staff Working Papers 22-24, Bank of Canada.
    11. García, Diego & Hu, Xiaowen & Rohrer, Maximilian, 2023. "The colour of finance words," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 147(3), pages 525-549.
    12. Huang, Hanwei & Manova, Kalina & Perelló, Oscar & Pisch, Frank, 2024. "Firm Heterogeneity and Imperfect Competition in Global Production Networks," CEPR Discussion Papers 19408, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    13. Crinò, Rosario & Bonfiglioli, Alessandra & Gancia, Gino, 2021. "International Trade with Heterogeneous Firms: Theory and Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 16249, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Caroline Freund & Martha Denisse Pierola, 2020. "The Origins and Dynamics of Export Superstars," The World Bank Economic Review, World Bank, vol. 34(1), pages 28-47.
    15. Alfaro, Martin & Warzynski, Frederic, 2021. "Trade liberalization with granular firms," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 105(C).
    16. Kramarz, Francis & Martin, Julien & Mejean, Isabelle, 2020. "Volatility in the small and in the large: The lack of diversification in international trade," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(C).
    17. Julian di Giovanni & Andrei A. Levchenko & Isabelle Mejean, 2024. "Foreign Shocks as Granular Fluctuations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 132(2), pages 391-433.
    18. Fabrice Defever & Alejandro Riano, 2017. "Twin peaks," Discussion Papers 2017-15, University of Nottingham, GEP.
    19. Julian di Giovanni & John Rogers, 2024. "The Impact of U.S. Monetary Policy on Foreign Firms," IMF Economic Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Monetary Fund, vol. 72(1), pages 58-115, March.
    20. Grigoli, Francesco & Luttini, Emiliano & Sandri, Damiano, 2023. "Idiosyncratic shocks and aggregate fluctuations in an emerging market," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Firm dynamics; Market structure and pricing; Recent economic and financial developments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D63 - Microeconomics - - Welfare Economics - - - Equity, Justice, Inequality, and Other Normative Criteria and Measurement
    • G41 - Financial Economics - - Behavioral Finance - - - Role and Effects of Psychological, Emotional, Social, and Cognitive Factors on Decision Making in Financial Markets
    • L11 - Industrial Organization - - Market Structure, Firm Strategy, and Market Performance - - - Production, Pricing, and Market Structure; Size Distribution of Firms
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bca:bocawp:24-37. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/bocgvca.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.