Abstract

The role of politically exposed persons in a company is a hot topic in management literature. This paper investigates the effects of managers or board members with political connections on the operational performance of companies in 28 European countries, with particular attention to the role of gender. The results show how political connections have a negative effect for firms, even in the presence of females, who, according to authoritative literature, are more ethical than males. The research contributes to the existing literature by focusing on both manager executives and board members, analyzing a very large sample of firms with recent data and also studying the role of politically exposed women. The work also has several practical and theoretical implications