This study investigates politically driven investments,a commonly used but little explored means through which politically motivated executives establish political connections.Using a sample of the Chinese listed firms,we find that politically motivated firms exhibit a significant tendency to over invest prior to the establishment of political connections,and they reduce their investments to the levels of their peers afterwards.We also find that the over-investment problem is more severe for private firms,which may benefit more from political connections and have stronger incentives to establish political connections.Our further analysis shows that politically motivated investments are less efficient,and adversely affect subsequent firm performance.Our study highlights the importance of understanding how political connections are established and sheds light on the mixed empirical evidence on the relation between political connection and firm performance.