The Journal of Finance

The Journal of Finance publishes leading research across all the major fields of finance. It is one of the most widely cited journals in academic finance, and in all of economics. Each of the six issues per year reaches over 8,000 academics, finance professionals, libraries, and government and financial institutions around the world. The journal is the official publication of The American Finance Association, the premier academic organization devoted to the study and promotion of knowledge about financial economics.

AFA members can log in to view full-text articles below.

Current Issue:

Volume 79: Issue 3 (June 2024)

Top 25 Recent Articles

Top 50 Articles of All Time

View past issues

Search the Journal of Finance:






Search results: 1.

CEO Political Leanings and Store‐Level Economic Activity during the COVID‐19 Crisis: Effects on Shareholder Value and Public Health

Published: 08/09/2022   |   DOI: 10.1111/jofi.13173

JOHN M. BIZJAK, SWAMINATHAN L. KALPATHY, VASSIL T. MIHOV, JUE REN

Maintaining economic output during the COVID‐19 pandemic results in benefits for firm shareholders but comes at a potential cost to public health. Using store‐level data, we examine how a CEO's political leaning impacts this trade‐off. We document that firms with a Republican‐leaning CEO experience a relative increase in store visits compared to firms with a Democratic‐leaning CEO. The increase in store visits is associated with higher sales and positive abnormal stock returns. However, we also document higher COVID‐19 transmission rates and more employee safety complaints in communities where establishments with higher store traffic are managed by a Republican‐leaning CEO.

  View PDF     Read article online