Working Papers
Do Political Identities Matter at Work? The Politics of Workplace Cooperation (with Francesco Raffaelli) (working paper) Under review
Abstract
Do political identities influence workers' willingness to cooperate at work? Do workers prefer copartisans over outpartisans as colleagues even at the expense of competence? This article bridges the affective polarization literature with studies in political economy, economic sociology, and management to develop a theory on how political identities permeate modern workplaces, where collaboration and non-cognitive skills are essential. An original survey experiment conducted in the United Kingdom reveals that workers avoid close collaboration with outpartisans and favor copartisans. While highly competent workers are generally preferred, their favorability drops significantly if they are outpartisans. A new measure of affective polarization at work, based on open-ended survey items, suggests that many respondents view partisan and Brexit identities as indicators of non-cognitive skills valued in colleagues. More broadly, this article contributes to our understanding of the challenges to workplace cooperation in knowledge economies with significant levels of affective polarization.
When Do Firms Speak Up? Knowledge Economy Workers and Companies' Progressive Speech (working paper)
Abstract
Large U.S. companies have increasingly voiced support for progressive causes, such as gender and racial equality and climate change. Despite a growing conservative backlash, little is known about the conditions under which firms publicly engage in these politically divisive topics. Linking Twitter data from S\&P 500 companies (2015–2022) and 10-K filings (2015–2025) with donations-based measures of stakeholders’ ideology, I show that firms with more progressive workforces are significantly more likely to publicly embrace progressive causes. Using proprietary monthly data on firm-level labour movements, I find that concerns over employee attraction and retention are an important mechanism driving this alignment. However, the Republican-led backlash since 2020 has moderated ---but not eliminated--- the influence of progressive workers on corporate speech. The findings suggest that growing, politically realigned group of highly educated employees can shape the public discourse of traditionally conservative, market-driven institutions.
Market Cosmopolitans at the Crossroads: How Voters' Social Environment Tilt the Balance (draft available upon request)
Work in Progress
The Effect of University Fields of Study on Civic Behaviors (with Adam Altmejd and José Montalbán Castilla) [Pre-Analysis Plan] [Slides]
Early Work in Progress
The Effects of Political Polarization on Firms’ Performance and Workers’ Well-Being (with Joaquin Artes and Miguel Vazquez-Carrero)
Interests over Principles? How Companies' Speech React to Controversial Law Passing (with Nelson Ruiz and Jan Stuckatz)