Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/296476 
Year of Publication: 
2024
Series/Report no.: 
IWH Discussion Papers No. 15/2024
Publisher: 
Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH), Halle (Saale)
Abstract: 
We study how connections to German federal parliamentarians affect firm dynamics by constructing a novel dataset to measure connections between politicians and the universe of firms. To identify the causal effect of access to political power, we exploit (i) new appointments to the company leadership team and (ii) discontinuities around the marginal seat of party election lists. Our results reveal that connections lead to reductions in firm exits, gradual increases in employment growth without improvements in productivity. The economic effects are mediated by better credit ratings while access to subsidies or procurement contracts are documented to be of lower importance.
Subjects: 
firm performance
identification
political connections
politicians
JEL: 
D72
L25
O43
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.