with Vyacheslav Fos and Elisabeth Kempf
Revise & Resubmit Journal of Finance
Abstract: Executive teams in U.S. firms are becoming increasingly partisan. We establish
this new fact using political affiliations from voter registration records for top executives of
S&P 1500 firms between 2008 and 2020. The new fact is explained by both an increasing share of
Republican executives and increased assortative matching by executives on political affiliation.
Departures of politically misaligned executives are value-destroying for shareholders, implying
the increasing political polarization of corporate America may not be in the financial interest of
shareholders.