Strategic CEO Activism in Polarized Markets
研究发现美国CEO对社会争议议题的表态常是战略选择而非个人观点表达，共和党捐赠者CEO更可能发表自由派倾向声明，此类表态能增加民主党县消费者访问量而不显著减少共和党县访问量，并带来企业价值提升和销售增长。
Abstract In this article, we show that statements of U.S. CEOs on contentious social issues are not necessarily an expression of their political views. Republican-donor CEOs are three times more likely to make social statements with a liberal slant. CEO activism is more likely if firms’ operating environment is politically polarized and employees are Democrat-leaning. Such statements are associated with a 3% increase in consumer visits to a firm’s Democrat County stores without significantly reducing them in Republican counties. CEO activism is associated with a 0.12% gain in firm value, increased quarterly sales, and a reduced likelihood of shareholder activism on social issues.