Discussion paper
DP15141 Power, Scrutiny, and Congressmen's Favoritism for Friends' Firm
Does higher office always lead to more favoritism? We argue that firms may lose their benefit from a connected politician’s ascent to higher office, if it entails stricter scrutiny that may reduce favoritism. Around close Congress elections, we find RDD-based evidence of this adverse effect that a politician’s win reduces his former classmates’ firms stock value by 3.2% after a week. Exploiting the entry of Craigslist across the U.S., we find that state-level scrutiny drives this effect. It further varies with politician’s power, firm size and governance, and connection strength, and diminishes as a politician’s career concern fades over time.
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