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  • 2025
  • Working Paper
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The Political Polarization of Corporate America

By: Vyacheslav Fos, Elisabeth Kempf and Margarita Tsoutsoura
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:50
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Abstract

U.S. executives are increasingly segregating by political party. We establish this new fact using political affiliations from voter registration records for top executives of S&P 1500 firms between 2008 and 2022. We identify key drivers of this trend, including growing segregation among executives within geographies and industries. Executives whose political views differ from the majority of their team are more likely to depart, contributing to the increasing polarization. Furthermore, an analysis of insider trading behavior suggests that intensifying partisan disagreement among executives may further fuel this segregation. Across all of these findings, we observe a significant shift in the dynamics around the 2016 U.S. presidential election, which marks an inflection point in the political polarization of corporate leadership.

Keywords

Political Polarization; Partisanship; Executives; Government and Politics; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States

Citation

Fos, Vyacheslav, Elisabeth Kempf, and Margarita Tsoutsoura. "The Political Polarization of Corporate America." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-003, July 2022. (Revised March 2025.)

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About The Author

Elisabeth Kempf

Finance
→More Publications

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More from the Authors
  • Partisan Corporate Speech By: William Cassidy and Elisabeth Kempf
  • Corporate Actions as Moral Issues By: Zwetelina Iliewa, Elisabeth Kempf and Oliver Spalt
  • The Political Economy of Firm Networks: CEO Ideology and Global Trade By: Elisabeth Kempf, Mancy Luo and Margarita Tsoutsoura
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