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The Value of Political Geography: Evidence from the Redistricting of Firms

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  • Artés, Joaquín
  • Richter, Brian Kelleher
  • Timmons, Jeffrey F.

Abstract

We demonstrate that political geography has value to firms. We do so by exploiting shocks to political maps that occur around redistricting cycles in the United States. These keep some firms in Congressional districts that are largely unchanged at one extreme and reassign other firms to entirely new sets of constituents at the other extreme. Our main finding is that firms suffer from being reassigned into districts that are competitive across parties relative to safer districts. The effects are not trivial in magnitude. Moreover, they do not depend on whether firm retain the same politician or actively make campaign contributions.

Suggested Citation

  • Artés, Joaquín & Richter, Brian Kelleher & Timmons, Jeffrey F., 2019. "The Value of Political Geography: Evidence from the Redistricting of Firms," Working Papers 291, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cbscwp:291
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    Cited by:

    1. Tandel, Vaidehi & Gandhi, Sahil & Tabarrok, Alex, 2023. "Building networks: Investigating the quid pro quo between local politicians & developers," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    2. Artés, Joaquín & Kaufman, Aaron Russell & Richter, Brian Kelleher & Timmons, Jeffrey F., 2022. "Are Firms Gerrymandered?," Working Papers 320, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political Geography; Redistricting; Capture Theory; Representation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior

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