Researcher ORCID Identifier

0000-0001-5610-7534

Graduation Year

2022

Date of Submission

4-2022

Document Type

Campus Only Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Economics

Reader 1

Joshua Rosett

Reader 2

George Batta

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Terms of Use for work posted in Scholarship@Claremont.

Rights Information

2022 Brooklyn A Button

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of company-wide COVID-19 vaccine mandates implemented by US firms by analyzing stock price performance on announcement dates. Results contribute to literature demonstrating that markets react to company announcements related to Corporate Sociopolitical Activism; in particular, share prices respond negatively when a political activity diverges from the views of key stakeholders. However, this is weighed against the economic impact on firms of real labor costs and benefits of mandates. Using an event study methodology, this paper analyzes the impact of company specific characteristics on cumulative standardized abnormal returns on company COVID-19 vaccine mandate announcement dates, as well as related government vaccine mandate announcement dates. Tested explanatory variables include: mandate type, work from home flexibility, headquartered state political affiliation, headquartered state house of representatives’ political affiliation, political leaning of customer base, labor intensity, and firm size. I find that COVID-19 vaccine mandate announcements have no significant effect on overall returns unless you distinguish between firms headquartered in Republican and Democratic states and distinguish between voluntary and government enforced COVID-19 vaccine mandates. In Republican states, mandates are associated with significantly negative returns which I show are the case for voluntary COVID-19 vaccine mandates.

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