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Do Firms Hire Politicians as Directors? Evidence from Close Elections

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  • Simon Luechinger
  • Mark Schelker
  • Lukas Schmid

Abstract

We document an overrepresentation of politicians on corporate boards using data for Swiss federal legislators in 1931-2015. However, a close-election regression discontinuity design shows that electoral success explains at most a small part of this overrepresentation. We find small and mostly statistically insignificant causal effects on the probability of having at least one directorship and no effect on the number of directorships. Our results imply that the prevalence of politicians on corporate boards stems from a positive selection of talented individuals in both business and politics, rather than firms hiring politicians to gain political access.

Suggested Citation

  • Simon Luechinger & Mark Schelker & Lukas Schmid, 2025. "Do Firms Hire Politicians as Directors? Evidence from Close Elections," CESifo Working Paper Series 12019, CESifo.
    • Handle: RePEc:ces:ceswps:_12019
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • D72 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Political Processes: Rent-seeking, Lobbying, Elections, Legislatures, and Voting Behavior
    • D73 - Microeconomics - - Analysis of Collective Decision-Making - - - Bureaucracy; Administrative Processes in Public Organizations; Corruption
    • J45 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Particular Labor Markets - - - Public Sector Labor Markets
    • H11 - Public Economics - - Structure and Scope of Government - - - Structure and Scope of Government

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