Research

Publications

• Shining a Light on Firms’ Political Connections: The Role of Dark Money | with Matthew Denes

  • Review of Corporate Finance Studies, 14(4), August 2025
  • Abstract: We study the emergence of a new channel for firms’ political activity using dark money through undisclosed and unlimited contributions. After the U.S. federal court decisions in 2010, S&P 500 firms substantially increased their use of dark money. We find that dark money contributions complement political engagement through campaign contributions and lobbying. Firms disclose dark money contributions when they face heightened nondisclosure costs. Firms contributing to dark money groups benefit by receiving more procurement contracts and increased government subsidies. Our findings highlight that political connections by firms are evolving and expanding through new and largely unexplored channels.
  • Presentations: RCFS Winter Conference 2024
  • Media Coverage: Shining a Light on Firms’ Political Connections, The CLS Blue Sky Blog (October 2025)

• PEAD.txt: Post-Earnings-Announcement Drift Using Text | with Pierre Liang, Vitaly Meursault, and Bryan Routledge

  • Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 58(6), September 2023
  • Abstract: We construct a new numerical measure of earnings announcement surprises, standardized unexpected earnings call text (SUE.txt), that does not explicitly incorporate the reported earnings value. SUE.txt generates a text-based post-earnings-announcement drift (PEAD.txt) larger than the classic PEAD. The magnitude of PEAD.txt is considerable even in recent years when the classic PEAD is close to 0. We explore our text-based empirical model to show that the calls’ news content is about details behind the earnings number and the fundamentals of the firm.
  • Presentations: FARS 2021; ETH Zürich; Bocconi University; SFS Cavalcade North America 2021; Indiana University; Brown University

Working Papers

• Democracy in the Dark: How Hidden Political Donations Shape U.S. Elections | with Matthew Denes

  • Abstract: Using hand-collected data on political contributions from undisclosed sources, we document novel stylized facts on “dark money’’ and its role in elections. Over the past decade, dark money has become a major source of campaign financing and currently comprises the largest source of capital from special interest groups. Dark money is primarily spent against candidates just before an election and often transferred to other special interest groups, consistent with evading disclosure. We show that dark money is more likely to be used in competitive elections and in areas with reduced information environments. Dark money-backed politicians support legislation as advocated for by dark money groups, and regulations are reduced at agencies connected to dark money issues. We also find that dark money-backed politicians are more likely to be subsequently voted out of office, suggesting that their agenda might be aligned with their donors rather than their constituents. Our results highlight that dark money is pervasive in U.S. campaign finance and influences the politicians elected to Congress.
  • Presentations: London Political Finance (POLFIN) Workshop; NBER Summer Institute, Political Economy; AEA Annual Meeting 2023; Georgetown Political Finance Conference 2025
  • Media Coverage: Dark Money Dominates Spending by Special Interest Groups and Sways Elections, ProMarket (August 2022)