IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jbrese/v115y2020icp25-37.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A supply-side approach to corporate political activity: Performance consequences of ideologically driven CPA

Author

Listed:
  • Greiner, Michael
  • Lee, Jaegul

Abstract

Corporate political activity (CPA) is an important area of research due to the high level of CPA in which many firms engage. Prior research has focused on the demand side of the political market. In this paper, we consider how choices made by CEOs regarding their interaction with the supply side of the political market can have performance implications for the firm. In particular, we argue that where CPA focuses less on supporting extreme ideologies, these investments in CPA will be positively associated with higher performance, and thus are more effective. Next, relying on agency theory, we argue that firms in which top managers are less likely to behave opportunistically will engage in such effective CPA. We test our theory on a panel of archival data generated by combining business data with political records, and we find strong support for our arguments.

Suggested Citation

  • Greiner, Michael & Lee, Jaegul, 2020. "A supply-side approach to corporate political activity: Performance consequences of ideologically driven CPA," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 115(C), pages 25-37.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:115:y:2020:i:c:p:25-37
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.04.038
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0148296320302630
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jbusres.2020.04.038?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Brian K. Boyd & Alain Salamin, 2001. "Strategic reward systems: a contingency model of pay system design," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(8), pages 777-792, August.
    2. Aggarwal, Rajesh K. & Meschke, Felix & Wang, Tracy Yue, 2012. "Corporate Political Donations: Investment or Agency?," Business and Politics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 14(1), pages 1-38, April.
    3. Stephen Ansolabehere & John M. de Figueiredo & James M. Snyder Jr, 2003. "Why is There so Little Money in U.S. Politics?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 105-130, Winter.
    4. Hadani, Michael, 2012. "Institutional ownership monitoring and corporate political activity: Governance implications," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(7), pages 944-950.
    5. Jonathan P. Doh & John A. Pearce, 2004. "Corporate Entrepreneurship and Real Options in Transitional Policy Environments: Theory Development," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(4), pages 645-664, June.
    6. Hicheon Kim & Heechun Kim & Peggy M. Lee, 2008. "Ownership Structure and the Relationship Between Financial Slack and R&D Investments: Evidence from Korean Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 19(3), pages 404-418, June.
    7. Kee H. Chung & Stephen W. Pruitt, 1994. "A Simple Approximation of Tobin's q," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 23(3), Fall.
    8. Albert Breton & Gianluigi Galeotti & Pierre Salmon & Ronald Wintrobe, 2002. "Political Extremism and Rationality," Post-Print hal-00445585, HAL.
    9. Lex Donaldson, 2008. "Ethics Problems and Problems with Ethics: Toward a Pro-Management Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 78(3), pages 299-311, March.
    10. Wendy L. Hansen & Neil J. Mitchell & Jeffrey M. Drope, 2005. "The Logic of Private and Collective Action," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 49(1), pages 150-167, January.
    11. Steve Sauerwald & Zhiang (John) Lin & Mike W. Peng, 2016. "Board social capital and excess CEO returns," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(3), pages 498-520, March.
    12. Martin, John A. & Butler, Frank C., 2017. "Agent and stewardship behavior: How do they differ?," Journal of Management & Organization, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(5), pages 633-646, September.
    13. Amy J. Hillman & Asghar Zardkoohi & Leonard Bierman, 1999. "Corporate political strategies and firm performance: indications of firm‐specific benefits from personal service in the U.S. government," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 67-81, January.
    14. Chrisman, James J. & Chua, Jess H. & Kellermanns, Franz W. & Chang, Erick P.C., 2007. "Are family managers agents or stewards? An exploratory study in privately held family firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(10), pages 1030-1038, October.
    15. Aggarwal Rajesh K. & Meschke Felix & Wang Tracy Yue, 2012. "Corporate Political Donations: Investment or Agency?," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 14(1), pages 1-40, April.
    16. Danny Miller & Isabelle Le Breton-Miller & Richard H. Lester, 2013. "Family Firm Governance, Strategic Conformity, and Performance: Institutional vs. Strategic Perspectives," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 24(1), pages 189-209, February.
    17. ANITA M. McGAHAN & MICHAEL E. PORTER, 1997. "How Much Does Industry Matter, Really?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(S1), pages 15-30, July.
    18. Groseclose, Tim & Levitt, Steven D. & Snyder, James M., 1999. "Comparing Interest Group Scores across Time and Chambers: Adjusted ADA Scores for the U.S. Congress," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 93(1), pages 33-50, March.
    19. Hadani, Michael & Dahan, Nicolas M. & Doh, Jonathan P., 2015. "The CEO as chief political officer: Managerial discretion and corporate political activity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2330-2337.
    20. E. Geoffrey Love & Nitin Nohria, 2005. "Reducing slack: the performance consequences of downsizing by large industrial firms, 1977–93," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(12), pages 1087-1108, December.
    21. Danielle Cooper & Pankaj C. Patel & Sherry M. B. Thatcher, 2014. "It Depends: Environmental Context and the Effects of Faultlines on Top Management Team Performance," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 25(2), pages 633-652, April.
    22. Adam Boche & Jeffrey B. Lewis & Aaron Rudkin & Luke Sonnet, 2018. "The new Voteview.com: preserving and continuing Keith Poole’s infrastructure for scholars, students and observers of Congress," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 176(1), pages 17-32, July.
    23. Breton,Albert & Galeotti,Gianluigi & Salmon,Pierre & Wintrobe,Ronald (ed.), 2002. "Political Extremism and Rationality," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521804417.
    24. Nandini Rajagopalan, 1997. "Strategic orientations, incentive plan adoptions, and firm performance: evidence from electric utility firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(10), pages 761-785, November.
    25. Himmelberg, Charles P. & Hubbard, R. Glenn & Palia, Darius, 1999. "Understanding the determinants of managerial ownership and the link between ownership and performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(3), pages 353-384, September.
    26. Orlando C. Richard & B. P. S Murthi & Kiran Ismail, 2007. "The impact of racial diversity on intermediate and long‐term performance: The moderating role of environmental context," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(12), pages 1213-1233, December.
    27. Brian Shaffer & Amy J. Hillman, 2000. "The development of business–government strategies by diversified firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(2), pages 175-190, February.
    28. Seong-Jin Choi & Nan Jia & Jiangyong Lu, 2015. "The Structure of Political Institutions and Effectiveness of Corporate Political Lobbying," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(1), pages 158-179, February.
    29. Caroline Flammer, 2018. "Competing for government procurement contracts: The role of corporate social responsibility," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(5), pages 1299-1324, May.
    30. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    31. Gregory DeAngelo & Adam Nowak & Imke Reimers, 2018. "Examining Regulatory Capture: Evidence From The Nhl," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 36(1), pages 183-191, January.
    32. Hall, Richard L. & Deardorff, Alan V., 2006. "Lobbying as Legislative Subsidy," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 100(1), pages 69-84, February.
    33. James S. Ang & Rebel A. Cole & James Wuh Lin, 2000. "Agency Costs and Ownership Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 55(1), pages 81-106, February.
    34. Oleg V. Petrenko & Federico Aime & Jason Ridge & Aaron Hill, 2016. "Corporate social responsibility or CEO narcissism? CSR motivations and organizational performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 262-279, February.
    35. Frank Hond & Kathleen A. Rehbein & Frank G. A. Bakker & Hilde Kooijmans-van Lankveld, 2014. "Playing on Two Chessboards: Reputation Effects between Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate Political Activity (CPA)," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(5), pages 790-813, July.
    36. Cornett, Marcia Millon & McNutt, Jamie John & Tehranian, Hassan, 2009. "Corporate governance and earnings management at large U.S. bank holding companies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 412-430, September.
    37. Jeongsik “Jay” Lee, 2010. "Heterogeneity, Brokerage, and Innovative Performance: Endogenous Formation of Collaborative Inventor Networks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 21(4), pages 804-822, August.
    38. Poole, Keith T & Romer, Thomas & Rosenthal, Howard, 1987. "The Revealed Preferences of Political Action Committees," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 77(2), pages 298-302, May.
    39. Shue, Kelly & Townsend, Richard R., 2017. "Growth through rigidity: An explanation for the rise in CEO pay," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 1-21.
    40. Gary Dushnitsky & Michael J. Lenox, 2005. "When do firms undertake R&D by investing in new ventures?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(10), pages 947-965, October.
    41. Dahlia Robinson & Thomas Smith & Adrian Valencia, 2018. "Does Managerial Opportunism Explain The Differential Pricing Of Level 3 Fair Value Estimates?," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 41(2), pages 253-289, June.
    42. Mike Adams & Philip Hardwick, 1998. "An Analysis of Corporate Donations: United Kingdom Evidence," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(5), pages 641-654, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Hoepner, Andreas G.F. & Lin, Ming-Tsung, 2022. "Do shareholder views affect corporate political activities?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    2. Greiner, Michael & Kim, Jaemin & Cordon Thor, Jennifer, 2023. "CEO values as antecedents to corporate political activity: An empirical exploration," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    3. Yanyan Li & Yu Gao & Shanxing Gao, 2023. "Organizational slack, entrepreneurial orientation, and corporate political activity: From the behavioral theory of the firm," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    4. Greiner, Michael & Kim, Jaemin & Cordon Thor, Jennifer, 2023. "Narcissistic CEOs and their corporate political activity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    5. Nyberg, Daniel & Murray, John, 2023. "Corporate populism: How corporations construct and represent ‘the people’ in political contestations," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 162(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Greiner, Michael & Kim, Jaemin & Cordon Thor, Jennifer, 2023. "Narcissistic CEOs and their corporate political activity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    2. Michael Greiner & Jing Sun, 2021. "How corporate social responsibility can incentivize top managers: A commitment to sustainability as an agency intervention," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(4), pages 1360-1375, July.
    3. Greiner, Michael & Kim, Jaemin & Cordon Thor, Jennifer, 2023. "CEO values as antecedents to corporate political activity: An empirical exploration," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    4. Liedong, Tahiru Azaaviele & Aghanya, Daniel & Jimenez, Alfredo & Rajwani, Tazeeb, 2023. "Corporate political activity and bribery in Africa: Do internet penetration and foreign ownership matter?," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    5. Shirodkar, Vikrant & Rajwani, Tazeeb & Stadler, Christian & Hautz, Julia & Mayer, Michael C.J., 2022. "Corporate Political Activity and Firm Performance: The Moderating Effects of International and Product Diversification," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 28(4).
    6. Hollis A. Skaife & Timothy Werner, 2020. "Changes in Firms’ Political Investment Opportunities, Managerial Accountability, and Reputational Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 163(2), pages 239-263, May.
    7. Michael Greiner & Jaemin Kim, 2021. "Corporate political activity and greenwashing: Can CPA clarify which firm communications on social & environmental events are genuine?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 1-10, January.
    8. John C. Coates IV, 2012. "Corporate Politics, Governance, and Value Before and After Citizens United," Journal of Empirical Legal Studies, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 9(4), pages 657-696, December.
    9. Hadani, Michael & Doh, Jonathan P. & Schneider, Marguerite, 2019. "Social movements and corporate political activity: Managerial responses to socially oriented shareholder activism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 156-170.
    10. Yang, Jie & Ma, Jieqiong & Zhang, Yong & Hong, JungHwa, 2018. "With whom should you have dinner? A multidimensional framework for understanding political ties in China," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 61(6), pages 891-898.
    11. Woon Leong Lin, 2019. "Is Corporate Political Activity an Investment or Agency? An Application of System GMM Approach," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-22, January.
    12. João Paulo Vieito & António Cerqueira & Elísio Brandão & Walayet A. Khan, 2009. "Executive Compensation: the Finance Perspective," Portuguese Journal of Management Studies, ISEG, Universidade de Lisboa, vol. 0(1), pages 3-32.
    13. Hadani, Michael & Dahan, Nicolas M. & Doh, Jonathan P., 2015. "The CEO as chief political officer: Managerial discretion and corporate political activity," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(11), pages 2330-2337.
    14. Esra Memili & Kaustav Misra, 2015. "Corporate Governance Provisions, Family Involvement, and Firm Performance in Publicly Traded Family Firms," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 3(3), pages 1-36, July.
    15. Choi, Jaeho & Rhee, Mooweon & Kim, Young-Choon, 2019. "Performance feedback and problemistic search: The moderating effects of managerial and board outsiderness," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 21-33.
    16. Xueyan Dong & Kam C. Chan & Yujia Cui & Jenny Xinjiao Guan, 2021. "Strategic deviance and cash holdings," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(3-4), pages 742-782, March.
    17. Weiß, Christian, 2010. "The Ownership Concentration of Firms: Three Essays on the Determinants and Effects," EconStor Theses, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, number 30247, October.
    18. Elvira Sojli & Wing Wah Tham, 2017. "Foreign political connections," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 48(2), pages 244-266, February.
    19. Adelino, Manuel & Dinc, I. Serdar, 2014. "Corporate distress and lobbying: Evidence from the Stimulus Act," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 256-272.
    20. Amrita Saha & Vikrant Shirodkar & Thomas C. Lawton, 2023. "Bimodal lobbying and trade policy outcomes: Evidence from corporate political activity under uncertainty in India," Journal of International Business Policy, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 6(1), pages 24-46, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:jbrese:v:115:y:2020:i:c:p:25-37. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jbusres .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.