What the study found
The study found that greater political ideology divergence, meaning the absolute ideological distance between an entrepreneur and state governance, is associated with increased entrepreneurial firm engagement in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices. It also found that research and development (R&D) investment and lobbying can weaken this relationship.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors conclude that the findings shift attention in research on the political economy of entrepreneurship from institutional constraints to entrepreneurial agency. They suggest this helps explain how entrepreneurs interpret and strategically respond to political ideology divergence.
What the researchers tested
The researchers studied entrepreneur-led firms in the United States from 2010 to 2020. They used longitudinal data from 605 firms and examined how political ideology divergence related to ESG engagement, along with the roles of R&D investment and lobbying.
What worked and what didn't
The analysis found that larger political ideology divergence was associated with more ESG engagement at the firm level. It also found that R&D investment and lobbying moderated this relationship by attenuating the association between divergence and ESG engagement.
What to keep in mind
The abstract describes a U.S. sample of entrepreneur-led firms, so the findings are limited to that setting. No additional limitations are described in the available summary.
Key points
- Political ideology divergence is defined as the absolute ideological distance between an entrepreneur and state governance.
- Greater divergence was associated with more firm engagement in ESG practices.
- R&D investment and lobbying weakened the association between divergence and ESG engagement.
- The study used longitudinal data from 605 entrepreneur-led U.S. firms from 2010 to 2020.
- The authors say the findings highlight entrepreneurial agency in response to political ideology divergence.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Political ideology divergence is linked to more ESG engagement
- Authors:
- Ileana Maldonado-Bautista, Peter G. Klein, Huiqing Ju
- Institutions:
- Baylor University, Iowa State University, Norwegian School of Economics, University of Richmond
- Publication date:
- 2026-07-01
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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