This study finds that stock return volatility is higher during periods of high tax policy uncertainty (TPU), even after controlling for other sources of general macroeconomic uncertainty. Further, we find that the relation between TPU and stock return volatility is more pronounced where firms...

Empirical evidence linking campaign financing activity to future firm benefits is mixed. However, theory suggests that an important aspect of a successful political strategy is a multi-period investment in cultivating relationships with key policymakers (Snyder 1992). We examine a specific...

We examine whether politically active firms play a role in disseminating political information via their management guidance. We use multiple proxies based on campaign financing activity or the presence of a government affairs office to capture whether a firm is politically active. We find that...

In this study, we examine whether sell-side security analysts gain access to value relevant information through political connections. We measure analysts' political connections based on political contributions at the brokerage house level. We argue that if brokerages are able to obtain private...

We examine whether broad-based public engagement by institutional investors influences the behavior of portfolio firms. We investigate this question in the context of BlackRock’s annual “Dear CEO” letter, which in recent years has called for portfolio firms to acknowledge and quantify the...

We examine whether firms’ political hedging activities are effective at mitigating political risk. Focusing on the risk induced by partisan politics, we measure political hedging as the degree to which firms’ political connections are balanced across Republican and Democratic candidates. We...