Download This PaperMedia Partisanship and Fundamental Corporate Decisions
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, forthcoming
44 Pages Posted: 21 Jun 2018 Last revised: 16 Oct 2021
Date Written: January 28, 2019
Abstract
Using the introduction of Fox News as a natural experiment, we investigate whether partisanship in television news coverage influences corporate decisions. We find that, during the George W. Bush presidency, firms led by Republican-leaning managers headquartered in regions into which Fox was introduced shift upward their total investment expenditures, investment expenditures devoted to R&D, and leverage. Our findings imply that in making fundamental corporate decisions, Republican-leaning managers are swayed by the Republican slant of Fox that presents an optimistic macroeconomic outlook. The results highlight the importance of heterogeneity in media slant in understanding the role of the media in corporate decision-making.
Keywords: Media Slant, Partisanship, Corporate Decision-making
JEL Classification: G30, G32, G34
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