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(115)
- News (28)
- Research (67)
- Multimedia (2)
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- 2025
- Working Paper
The Political Polarization of Corporate America
By: Vyacheslav Fos, Elisabeth Kempf and Margarita Tsoutsoura
U.S. executives are increasingly segregating by political party. We establish this new fact using
political affiliations from voter registration records for top executives of S&P 1500 firms between
2008 and 2022. We identify key drivers of this trend, including... View Details
Keywords: Political Polarization; Partisanship; Executives; Government and Politics; Business and Shareholder Relations; United States
Fos, Vyacheslav, Elisabeth Kempf, and Margarita Tsoutsoura. "The Political Polarization of Corporate America." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 23-003, July 2022. (Revised March 2025.)
- 2022
- Working Paper
Values as Luxury Goods and Political Polarization
By: Benjamin Enke, Mattias Polborn and Alex A Wu
Motivated by novel survey evidence, this paper develops a theory of political
behavior in which values are a luxury good: the relative weight voters place
on values rather than material considerations increases in income. The model
predicts (i) voters who are... View Details
Keywords: Political Polarization; Government and Politics; Moral Sensibility; Luxury; Values and Beliefs; Voting
Enke, Benjamin, Mattias Polborn, and Alex A Wu. "Values as Luxury Goods and Political Polarization." Working Paper, April 2022. (Revised April 2023.)
- April 11, 2017
- Article
Systems Change in a Polarized Country
By: Mark R. Kramer
A growing number of U.S. foundations are adopting practices based on systems change to achieve their goals in the current political environment. View Details
Kramer, Mark R. "Systems Change in a Polarized Country." Stanford Social Innovation Review (website) (April 11, 2017).
- 2024
- Article
Political Polarization and Finance
By: Elisabeth Kempf and Margarita Tsoutsoura
We review an empirical literature that studies how political polarization affects financial decisions. We first discuss the degree of partisan segregation in finance and corporate America, the mechanisms through which partisanship may influence financial decisions, and... View Details
Kempf, Elisabeth, and Margarita Tsoutsoura. "Political Polarization and Finance." Annual Review of Financial Economics 16 (2024): 413–434.
- 01 Oct 2024
- Research & Ideas
How Politics Drives Business Decisions in a Polarized Nation
Political polarization has seeped so deeply into US society that it shapes who Americans befriend, date, and marry, where they live, raise their families, and retire—and how they run their businesses. A... View Details
Keywords: by Jay Fitzgerald
- March 2020
- Case
Braver Angels: A Grassroots Effort to Depolarize American Politics
By: Francesca Gino, Julia A. Minson and Jeff Huizinga
The founders of Braver Angels, an organization that uses family therapy principles to foster constructive dialogue between conservatives and liberals, consider how to improve its effectiveness and reach. View Details
Keywords: Political Polarization; Interpersonal Communication; Performance Effectiveness; Strategy; United States
Gino, Francesca, Julia A. Minson, and Jeff Huizinga. "Braver Angels: A Grassroots Effort to Depolarize American Politics." Harvard Business School Case 920-054, March 2020.
- June 2025
- Case
Crossing Borders, Dividing Politics: U.S. Immigration Policy and Political Polarization
By: Marco Tabellini and Alexis Lefort
This case explores the history and political dynamics of U.S. immigration policy, focusing on its evolution from the 18th century to 2025. It traces key legislative milestones, such as the 1965 Immigration and Nationality Act, DACA, and the 2025 Laken Riley Act,... View Details
- Article
Managing a Polarized Workforce: How to Foster Debate and Promote Trust
By: Julia A. Minson and Francesca Gino
One of the toughest challenges leaders face is managing diverse perspectives—and given heightened tensions over politics and movements such as #MeToo and Black Lives Matter, that’s more difficult today than ever before. At the same time, productive disagreement and... View Details
Keywords: Polarization; Employees; Perspective; Interpersonal Communication; Organizational Culture; Trust
Minson, Julia A., and Francesca Gino. "Managing a Polarized Workforce: How to Foster Debate and Promote Trust." Harvard Business Review 100, no. 2 (March–April 2022): 63–71.
- 2021
- Working Paper
Does Social Media Cause Polarization? Evidence from Access to Twitter Echo Chambers during the 2019 Argentine Presidential Debate
By: Rafael Di Tella, Ramiro H. Gálvez and Ernesto Schargrodsky
We study how two groups, those inside vs. those outside echo chambers, react to a political event when we vary social media status (Twitter). Our treatments mimic two strategies often suggested as a way to limit polarization on social media: they expose people to... View Details
Keywords: Political Polarization; Political Elections; Internet and the Web; Attitudes; Social Media; Argentina
Di Tella, Rafael, Ramiro H. Gálvez, and Ernesto Schargrodsky. "Does Social Media Cause Polarization? Evidence from Access to Twitter Echo Chambers during the 2019 Argentine Presidential Debate." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 29458, November 2021.
- May 2023
- Article
Political Ideology and International Capital Allocation
By: Elisabeth Kempf, Mancy Luo, Larissa Schäfer and Margarita Tsoutsoura
Does investors' political ideology shape international capital allocation? We provide evidence from two settings—syndicated corporate loans and equity mutual funds—to show ideological alignment with foreign governments affects the cross-border capital allocation by... View Details
Keywords: Capital Flows; Syndicated Loans; Mutual Funds; Partisanship; Polarization; Elections; Political Ideology; Banks and Banking; Institutional Investing; Behavioral Finance; Decision Choices and Conditions
Kempf, Elisabeth, Mancy Luo, Larissa Schäfer, and Margarita Tsoutsoura. "Political Ideology and International Capital Allocation." Journal of Financial Economics 148, no. 2 (May 2023): 150–173.
- 2021
- Working Paper
Issue Salience and Political Stereotypes
By: Pedro Bordalo, Marco Tabellini and David Yang
U.S. voters exaggerate the differences in attitudes held by Republicans and Democrats on a range of socioeconomic and political issues, and higher perceived polarization is associated with greater political engagement and affective polarization. In this paper, we... View Details
- February 2023
- Article
Homophily and Acrophily as Drivers of Political Segregation
By: Amit Goldenberg, Joseph M. Abruzzo, Zi Huang, Jonas Schone, David Bailey, Robb Willer, Eran Halperin and James J. Gross
Political segregation is an important social problem, increasing polarization and impeding effective governance. Previous work has viewed the central driver of segregation to be political homophily, the tendency to associate with others who have similar views. Here we... View Details
Keywords: Political Affiliation; Extremism; Values and Beliefs; Identity; Groups and Teams; Emotions; Civil Society or Community
Goldenberg, Amit, Joseph M. Abruzzo, Zi Huang, Jonas Schone, David Bailey, Robb Willer, Eran Halperin, and James J. Gross. "Homophily and Acrophily as Drivers of Political Segregation." Nature Human Behaviour 7, no. 2 (February 2023): 219–230.
- 18 Aug 2015
- Working Paper Summaries
Political Identity and Trust
Keywords: by Pablo Hernandez & Dylan Minor
- 2023
- Working Paper
Polarizing Corporations: Does Talent Flow to "Good" Firms?
By: Emanuele Colonnelli, Tim McQuade, Gabriel Ramos, Thomas Rauter and Olivia Xiong
We conduct a field experiment in partnership with the largest job platform in Brazil to study how environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices
of firms affect talent allocation. We find both an average job-seeker’s preference for ESG and a large degree of... View Details
Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Job Search; Talent and Talent Management; Wages; Attitudes
Colonnelli, Emanuele, Tim McQuade, Gabriel Ramos, Thomas Rauter, and Olivia Xiong. Polarizing Corporations: Does Talent Flow to "Good" Firms? Working Paper, November 2023.
- 30 Sep 2015
- Research & Ideas
Political Polarization: Why We All Just Can't Get Along
A recent study suggests that America’s political polarization is driven more by incorrect beliefs and stereotypes about the other side than distaste with those people. That should be good news for those... View Details
- 20 Sep 2022
- Research & Ideas
How Partisan Politics Play Out in American Boardrooms
result. The findings by Harvard Business School Associate Professor Elisabeth Kempf come at a time of heightened political discord and polarization among Americans. The research sheds new light on how the... View Details
Keywords: by Pamela Reynolds
- March 2012
- Article
Fixing What's Wrong with U. S. Politics
By: David A. Moss
In America today there's a growing sense that the political system is broken and that its ineffectiveness is a major threat to U.S. competitiveness. Why do so many think the political system is not working? Research shows that in Congress, Republicans and Democrats are... View Details
Keywords: Government and Politics; System; Conflict Management; Performance Productivity; Policy; Public Administration Industry; United States
Moss, David A. "Fixing What's Wrong with U. S. Politics." Harvard Business Review 90, no. 3 (March 2012).
- 2021
- Working Paper
CEO Activism, Consumer Polarization, and Firm Performance
By: Young Hou and Christopher W. Poliquin
CEOs are increasingly engaging in activism on controversial social and political issues that do not directly affect their businesses. Simultaneously, the general public is increasingly polarized. We examine how CEO support for gun control after two mass shootings... View Details
Keywords: CEO Activism; Guns; Polarization; Non-market Strategy; Social Issues; Leadership; Consumer Behavior; Performance
Hou, Young, and Christopher W. Poliquin. "CEO Activism, Consumer Polarization, and Firm Performance." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-106, February 2021.
- December 2018 (Revised March 2020)
- Technical Note
Note on Economic Inequality (2020)
By: Rebecca Henderson, Jessica A. Gover, Aldo Sesia and Mariana Oseguera Rodriguez
For over half a century, most of the world's economies have enjoyed steady growth and prosperity. While this economic growth has reduced the number of people living in poverty, it has come with an increase in economic inequality. The gap between the "haves" and the... View Details
- 2022
- Case
Polarizing Government Work: McKinsey & Co. and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)
By: Andrew J. Hoffman
When Donald Trump announced his run for president in 2015, he placed immigration front and center in his campaign. He promised to drastically expand U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), end Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA), and build a border... View Details
Hoffman, Andrew J. "Polarizing Government Work: McKinsey & Co. and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)." William Davidson Institute Case 3-951-926, 2022.