The tone and content of a politician’s speech affects whether businesses make financial and employment investments in that politician’s state, according to a new study co-authored by Larry Fauver, the James F. Smith Jr. Professor of Financial Institutions in the College of Business Administration. The study examined gubernatorial speeches in the United States. It found that in the year following the speech, businesses in states where the governor gave a more optimistic speech invested 2 percent more of their capital compared to firms in states where the governor gave a more pessimistic speech.
Fauver’s study has received attention in numerous regional and national media outlets including:
WKU Public Radio (Western Kentucky)