Firm partisan positioning, polarization, and risk communication: Examining voluntary disclosures on COVID‐19

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic will rank among the greatest challenges many executives will have faced and not only due to the operational challenges it posed. Upon entering the U.S. context, the disease was immediately politically polarized, with clear partisan splits forming in risk perceptions of the disease unrelated to science. We exploit this context to

COVID-19 research in management: An updated bibliometric analysis

“… What policies should companies implement to improve control over the ripple effect in a disruption in supply chains? Firm response (e.g., Krammer, 2021 , Benton et al, 2021 ) What are the factors that help organizations to be resilient and to adapt in times of crisis effectively? How do those factors impact the adaptation?…”

“…The Firm Responses theme focuses on policies implemented to address the issues caused by the pandemic. These policies include developing resilience within the firm (e.g., Krammer, 2021 ), modes of risk disclosure ( Benton, Cobb, & Werner, 2021 ), and work-from-home policies ( Khan, 2021 ).…”

The Evolving Political Marketplace: Revisiting 60 Years of Theoretical Dominance Through a Review of Corporate Political Activity Scholarship inBusiness & Societyand Major Management Journals

“…Political markets research must follow these developments. For example, scholars can ask whether increased partisanship on the supply side has driven an increase in partisanship on the demand side, with firms joining one side or the other (Benton et al, 2021). They can also inquire as to what role party leaders—both policymakers and party officials—play in political markets.…”

Governmental Restrictions and Real Estate Investor Risk Perception

“…The result was a clear distinction along party lines on actions taken with Democratic-led states imposing stricter and longer public health measures than Republican-led states. The political polarization also resulted in a partisan split in the risk perception of the disease (Benton et al, 2021 ).…”

“…Subrahmanyam et al ( 2020 ) show that CEO characteristics impact political donations and that firms have a preference to donate to local politicians in the state a company is headquartered, emphasizing the importance of local politics to firms. Focusing on the COVID-19 pandemic, Benton et al ( 2021 ) find that the political leaning of a firm’s management impacts the voluntary disclosure of COVID-19 risks and political donations. One explanation for these findings is that Democratic-leaning managers perceived the disease’s risks to be higher than Republican-leaning.…”