Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

The Implications Of Corporate Political Activism And Governance, Marcos Velazquez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is comprised of three essays that study corporate political activism through the lens of corporate governance. The first essay examines how CEO overconfidence, moderated by CEO power, drives lobbying expenditures. The findings suggest that neither variable by itself affects lobbying outlays. However, it is the interaction between such characteristics that increases lobbying activity. Executives exhibiting above-average overconfidence who also chair the board tend to spend 36% more in lobbying. Ensuing firm performance is examined to establish whether the surge is in line with stewardship or agency conflict paradigms. There is limited evidence of improved valuations due to lobbying …