Sociology Seminar 
Time: 12:00 pm – 13:30 pm
Date: 12th of march
Room : 3049

Balazs KOVACS (Yale University) – “Political Alignment and Performance: From Golf Courses to Startups, Labs, and Patents”

Abstract : 

Political polarization increasingly shapes social and professional life, yet its consequences for collaboration and performance remain underexplored. In this talk, I present a research program examining how political alignment affects group composition and outcomes across multiple settings. I begin with two published studies. The first uses random assignment in professional golf to show that political heterogeneity in playing groups reduces individual performance, with effects amplified during periods of high societal polarization. The second documents strong political homophily in entrepreneurial team formation and finds that politically heterogeneous founding teams face higher shutdown rates. I then present new evidence extending these ideas to academic science and technological innovation. Using voter registration data matched to US-based academics and inventors, I examine political sorting in coauthorship and patent teams and evaluate how team political composition relates to downstream impact. The findings reveal consistent homophily patterns across contexts but divergent performance implications: politically heterogeneous academic teams produce less-cited and less breakthrough work, while heterogeneous inventor teams receive more patent citations. I discuss potential explanations for these contrasting patterns and implications for understanding how political divisions shape knowledge production.

Zoom link : https://zoom.us/j/98362947914?pwd=0adEBE0LXXuI6aawZMi4L9qmw6tgSq.1

Organizers:
Paola TUBARO (Pôle sociologie CREST)

Nicolas JULIA (Pôle sociologie CREST)

Patrick PRÄG (Pôle sociologie CREST)

Sponsors:
CREST