A new study shows chief executive officers of major companies are more than twice as likely to donate to Republicans than to Democrats.
The study, conducted by professors at Harvard University and Tel-Aviv University, took 18 years to complete and followed the political contributions of more than 3,800 CEOs with companies listed in the S&P 500 stock index. It qualified a Republican donor as someone who donates at least two-thirds of contributions to the Republicans, and similarly for Democrats. Individuals who donated more evenly were classified as neutral.
The energy industry offered the most striking contrast, with nine out of every 10 CEOs donating primarily to the GOP.
The only industry which in Republicans didn’t have a majority during 2017, the last year studied, was the telecommunications, where 26 percent are Republican donors, 26 percent are Democratic donors, and 48 percent do not donate predominantly to one party.
“Some might argue that support for Republicans is consistent with shareholder interests because share value would benefit from the low-tax and deregulatory policies promoted by Republicans,” the study said.
