Judge Ideology and Corporate Sexual Orientation Equality

We investigate the role that judge ideology plays in determining corporate sexual orientation equality
(CSOE) initiatives. We find a negative relationship between liberal judge ideology and CSOE
initiatives. This is consistent with the agency perspective. Further analysis suggests that this association is
intensified for firms led by powerful chief executive offices (CEOs) and those that possess higher
corporate social responsibility (CSR) ratings. Finally, we show that firms in liberal jurisdictions that
invest more in CSOE initiatives pay higher premium while raising external capital. Our results are
robust for an array of sensitivity and identification tests.