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Washington meets Wall Street: A closer examination of the presidential cycle puzzle

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  • Kräussl, Roman
  • Lucas, André
  • Rijsbergen, David R.
  • van der Sluis, Pieter Jelle
  • Vrugt, Evert B.

Abstract

We show that the annual excess return of the S&P 500 is almost 10 percent higher during the last two years of the presidential cycle than during the first two years. This pattern cannot be explained by business-cycle variables capturing time-varying risk premia, differences in risk levels, or by consumer and investor sentiment. We formally test the presidential election cycle (PEC) hypothesis as an alternative to explain the presidential cycle anomaly. The PEC states that incumbent parties and presidents have an incentive to manipulate the economy (via budget expansions and taxes) to remain in power. We formulate eight testable propositions relating to the fiscal, monetary, tax, unexpected inflation and political implications of the PEC hypothesis. We do not find statistically significant evidence confirming the PEC hypothesis as a plausible explanation for the presidential cycle effect. The presidential cycle effect in U.S. financial markets thus remains a puzzle that cannot be easily explained by politicians employing their economic influence to remain in power, as is often believed.

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  • Kräussl, Roman & Lucas, André & Rijsbergen, David R. & van der Sluis, Pieter Jelle & Vrugt, Evert B., 2014. "Washington meets Wall Street: A closer examination of the presidential cycle puzzle," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 50-69.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jimfin:v:43:y:2014:i:c:p:50-69
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jimonfin.2013.11.003
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    Cited by:

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    2. Eric Dubois, 2016. "Political Business Cycles 40 Years after Nordhaus," Post-Print hal-01291401, HAL.
    3. Eric Dubois, 2016. "Political business cycles 40 years after Nordhaus," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 166(1), pages 235-259, January.
    4. Wisniewski, Tomasz Piotr, 2016. "Is there a link between politics and stock returns? A literature survey," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 15-23.
    5. Samar Ashour & David A. Rakowski & Salil K. Sarkar, 2019. "U.S. presidential cycles and the foreign exchange market," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 37(4), pages 523-540, October.
    6. Chan, Kam Fong & Marsh, Terry, 2021. "Asset prices, midterm elections, and political uncertainty," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(1), pages 276-296.
    7. Eric Dubois, 2016. "Political Business Cycles 40 Years after Nordhaus," Université Paris1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Post-Print and Working Papers) hal-01291401, HAL.
    8. Alvarez-Ramirez, J. & Rodriguez, E. & Ibarra-Valdez, C., 2020. "Medium-term cycles in the dynamics of the Dow Jones Index for the period 1985–2019," Physica A: Statistical Mechanics and its Applications, Elsevier, vol. 546(C).
    9. William T. Chittenden, 2020. "Political Parties In Power And U.S. Economic Performance," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 14(2), pages 21-36.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Political economy; Market efficiency; Anomalies; Calendar effects; Presidential cycle;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • P16 - Political Economy and Comparative Economic Systems - - Capitalist Economies - - - Capitalist Institutions; Welfare State

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