IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/ash/wpaper/134.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The Politics of the Paycheck Protection Program

Author

Listed:
  • Deniz Igan

    (International Monetary Fund and CEPR, 700 19th Street NW, Washington, DC, 20431, United States)

  • Thomas Lambert

    (Erasmus University)

  • Prachi Mishra

    (Department of Economics and the Isaac Center for Public Policy, Ashoka University)

  • Eden Zhang

    (Monash University)

Abstract

Does partisanship influence loan allocation through the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP)? We examine the 2020 Presidential campaign contributions by lenders’ employees as a measure of partisanship and leverage the staggered rollout of the PPP under both Trump and Biden administrations to address this question post 2013.

Suggested Citation

  • Deniz Igan & Thomas Lambert & Prachi Mishra & Eden Zhang, 2024. "The Politics of the Paycheck Protection Program," Working Papers 134, Ashoka University, Department of Economics.
    • Handle: RePEc:ash:wpaper:134
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://dp.ashoka.edu.in/ash/wpaper/paper134_0.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kempf, Elisabeth & Luo, Mancy & Schäfer, Larissa & Tsoutsoura, Margarita, 2023. "Political ideology and international capital allocation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(2), pages 150-173.
    2. Anna Cororaton & Samuel Rosen, 2021. "Public Firm Borrowers of the U.S. Paycheck Protection Program [The risk of being a fallen angel and the corporate dash for cash in the midst of COVID]," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 10(4), pages 641-693.
    3. Fishback, Price V. & Kantor, Shawn & Wallis, John Joseph, 2003. "Can the New Deal's three Rs be rehabilitated? A program-by-program, county-by-county analysis," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 40(3), pages 278-307, July.
    4. Granja, João & Makridis, Christos & Yannelis, Constantine & Zwick, Eric, 2022. "Did the paycheck protection program hit the target?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 145(3), pages 725-761.
    5. Laurent Bouton & Julia Cagé & Edgard Dewitte & Vincent Pons, 2021. "Small Campaign Donors," Working Papers hal-03878175, HAL.
    6. Bartlett, Robert P. & Morse, Adair, 2021. "Small-Business Survival Capabilities and Fiscal Programs: Evidence from Oakland," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(7), pages 2500-2544, November.
    7. Dingel, Jonathan I. & Neiman, Brent, 2020. "How many jobs can be done at home?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    8. Coibion, Olivier & Gorodnichenko, Yuriy & Weber, Michael, 2020. "Political Polarization and Expected Economic Outcomes," Department of Economics, Working Paper Series qt9h51c373, Department of Economics, Institute for Business and Economic Research, UC Berkeley.
    9. Matthieu Chavaz & Andrew K Rose, 2019. "Political Borders and Bank Lending in Post-Crisis America," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 23(5), pages 935-959.
    10. Chodorow-Reich, Gabriel & Darmouni, Olivier & Luck, Stephan & Plosser, Matthew, 2022. "Bank liquidity provision across the firm size distribution," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 144(3), pages 908-932.
    11. Li, Lei & Strahan, Philip E., 2021. "Who Supplies PPP Loans (and Does It Matter)? Banks, Relationships, and the COVID Crisis," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(7), pages 2411-2438, November.
    12. Duchin, Ran & Hackney, John, 2021. "Buying the Vote? The Economics of Electoral Politics and Small-Business Loans," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(7), pages 2439-2473, November.
    13. Autor, David & Cho, David & Crane, Leland D. & Goldar, Mita & Lutz, Byron & Montes, Joshua & Peterman, William B. & Ratner, David & Villar, Daniel & Yildirmaz, Ahu, 2022. "An evaluation of the Paycheck Protection Program using administrative payroll microdata," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 211(C).
    14. David Autor & David Cho & Leland D. Crane & Mita Goldar & Byron Lutz & Joshua Montes & William B. Peterman & David Ratner & Daniel Villar & Ahu Yildirmaz, 2022. "The $800 Billion Paycheck Protection Program: Where Did the Money Go and Why Did It Go There?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 36(2), pages 55-80, Spring.
    15. Elisabeth Kempf & Margarita Tsoutsoura, 2021. "Partisan Professionals: Evidence from Credit Rating Analysts," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 76(6), pages 2805-2856, December.
    16. Elisabeth Kempf & Margarita Tsoutsoura, 2024. "Political Polarization and Finance," NBER Working Papers 32792, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Sergey Chernenko & Nathan Kaplan & Asani Sarkar & David S. Scharfstein, 2023. "Applications or Approvals: What Drives Racial Disparities in the Paycheck Protection Program?," NBER Working Papers 31172, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    18. Sumit Agarwal & Gene Amromin & Itzhak Ben‐David & Serdar Dinc, 2018. "The Politics of Foreclosures," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 73(6), pages 2677-2717, December.
    19. Akey, Pat & Heimer, Rawley Z. & Lewellen, Stefan, 2021. "Politicizing consumer credit," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(2), pages 627-655.
    20. Chernenko, Sergey & Scharfstein, David, 2024. "Racial disparities in the Paycheck Protection Program," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 160(C).
    21. Dagostino, Ramona & Gao, Janet & Ma, Pengfei, 2023. "Partisanship in loan pricing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(3).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Gustavo Joaquim & J. Christina Wang, 2022. "What Do 25 Million Records of Small Businesses Say about the Effects of the PPP?," Working Papers 22-23, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
    2. Marsh, W. Blake & Sharma, Padma, 2024. "Loan guarantees in a crisis: An antidote to a credit crunch?," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    3. Steiner, Eva & Tchistyi, Alexei, 2024. "Distortionary effects of PPP loans on business competition," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    4. Allen N. Berger & Onesime Epouhe & Raluca Roman, 2021. "A Tale of Two Bailouts: Effects of TARP and PPP on Subprime Consumer Debt," Working Papers 21-32, Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
    5. Ana Martins & João Pereira dos Santos & Fernando Pozzobon, 2025. "Sailing through Troubled Waters: Evidence from the APOIAR Program," GEE Papers 190, Gabinete de Estratégia e Estudos, Ministério da Economia, revised May 2025.
    6. Glenn Hubbard & Michael R. Strain, 2020. "Has the Paycheck Protection Program Succeeded?," Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Economic Studies Program, The Brookings Institution, vol. 51(3 (Fall)), pages 335-390.
    7. Lopez, Jose A. & Spiegel, Mark M., 2023. "Small business lending under the PPP and PPPLF programs," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    8. Beck, Thorsten & Keil, Jan, 2022. "Have banks caught corona? Effects of COVID on lending in the U.S," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    9. Lily Davies & Mark Kattenberg & Benedikt Vogt, 2023. "Predicting Firm Exits with Machine Learning: Implications for Selection into COVID-19 Support and Productivity Growth," CPB Discussion Paper 444, CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis.
    10. Barbakadze, I., 2023. "With a Little Help from My Friend: Political Connections and Allocation of COVID-19 Aid," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 2355, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    11. David Glancy, 2025. "Bank Relationships and the Geography of PPP Lending," Journal of Financial Services Research, Springer;Western Finance Association, vol. 67(3), pages 157-186, June.
    12. Théo Nicolas & Stefano Ungaro & Éric Vansteenberghe, 2023. "Public-Guaranteed Loans, Bank Risk-Taking and Regulatory Capital Windfall [Prêts garantis par l'État, prise de risque bancaire et effet d'aubaine sur le capital réglementaire]," Débats Economiques et financiers 41, Banque de France.
    13. Benjamin A. Abugri & Theophilus T. Osah, 2025. "US Bank Lending to Small Businesses: An Analysis of COVID-19 and the Paycheck Protection Program," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 18(5), pages 1-26, April.
    14. Vladimir Kotomin & Wyatt Frere & Ruby Morr, 2025. "Forgive me not? Racial and institutional disparities in the Paycheck Protection Program loan forgiveness," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 64(3), pages 1433-1461, March.
    15. Aaron J. Staples & Thomas P. Krumel, 2023. "The Paycheck Protection Program and small business performance: Evidence from craft breweries," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 931-956, October.
    16. Thomas Lambert & Wolf Wagner & Eden Quxian Zhang, 2023. "Banks, Political Capital, and Growth," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 12(3), pages 613-655.
    17. Doniger, Cynthia L. & Kay, Benjamin, 2023. "Long-lived employment effects of delays in emergency financing for small businesses," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 140(C), pages 78-91.
    18. Huneeus, Federico & Kaboski, Joseph & Larrain, Mauricio & Schmukler, Sergio L. & Vera, Mario, 2022. "The Distribution of Crisis Credit: Effects on Firm Indebtedness and Aggregate Risk," CEPR Discussion Papers 17061, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    19. Guirola, Luis, 2025. "Economic expectations under the shadow of party polarization: Evidence from 135 government changes," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    20. Erel, Isil & Liebersohn, Jack, 2022. "Can FinTech reduce disparities in access to finance? Evidence from the Paycheck Protection Program," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(1), pages 90-118.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:ash:wpaper:134. 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: Ashoka University (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.ashoka.edu.in .

    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.