Political Investments and the Winner of Government Grants

Abstract

This paper investigates whether corporate political connections and corporate donations to national-level political campaigns are associated with the allocation of government resources. Based on a sample of Taiwanese publicly held companies, the findings show that political campaign contributions are associated with successful applications for government innovation subsidies as well as more government innovation subsidies. The findings also show that companies that show their loyalty by only donating to the ruling party’s candidates in campaigns receive higher amounts of government innovation subsidies than other companies. Overall, the findings provide evidence that political connections through political campaign contributions may affect government’s decision for resource allocation.