evidence from Brazil

This paper studies the influence of politically connected Board of Directors on Brazilian firms’ future performance. We control for the drivers of firm performance on the Brazilian market, the influence of a political related Board of Director’s member on future firm performance and the differences of this influence between outperforming and underperforming companies. Using a sample of 49 ibovespa companies’ Board of Directors from 2010 to 2015 we conclude that politically connected members of the Board have a positive influence on the one-year-ahead firm performance. We also conclude that this influence is stronger in companies that underperform the industry