Does corporate governance matter for politically connected firms?—evidence from the regime change in Malaysia

We examine the role that corporate governance plays in moderating the association between political connections and firm value when an unexpected but peaceful shift in political power takes place. Using the 2018 general election in Malaysia as our event, we find that the stock market reacts positively (negatively) to politically connected firms (PCFs) that are connected to the winning (losing) coalition. Further investigation reveals that market reactions take into account the corporate governance of these connected firms. Our results highlight the importance of corporate governance across PCFs as a hedge when such connections can be detrimental to firm value.