Abstract
Maintaining economic output during COVID-19 pandemic results in benefits for a firm’s shareholders but comes at a potential cost to public health. Using store-level data, we examine how a CEO’s political leanings impact this tradeoff. We document that firms with Republican-leaning CEOs experience a relative increase in store visits compared to firms with Democratic-leaning CEOs. The increase in store visits is associated with higher sales and positive abnormal stock returns. However, we also document higher COVID-19 transmission rates and more employee safety complaints in communities where establishments with higher store traffic are managed by Republican-leaning CEOs.
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