Betting on Hitler: The value of political connections in Nazi Germany

Hans-Joachim Voth and Thomas Ferguson

Economics Working Papers from Department of Economics and Business, Universitat Pompeu Fabra

Abstract: This paper examines the value of connections between German industry and the Nazi movement in early 1933. Drawing on previously unused contemporary sources about management and supervisory board composition and stock returns, we find that one out of seven firms, and a large proportion of the biggest companies, had substantive links with the National Socialist German Workers’ Party. Firms supporting the Nazi movement experienced unusually high returns, outperforming unconnected ones by 5% to 8% between January and March 1933. These results are not driven by sectoral composition and are robust to alternative estimators and definitions of affiliation.

Keywords: Political Connections; Stock Market; Asset Pricing; Nazi Rise to Power; Interwar Germany (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G12 G13 G15 N24 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-02
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (244)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Betting on Hitler—The Value of Political Connections in Nazi Germany (2008)
Working Paper: Betting on Hitler - The Value of Political Connections in Nazi Germany (2005)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:upf:upfgen:1183

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