["International Journal of Finance &Economics, EarlyView. ", "\nABSTRACT\nThis paper examines whether the prevalence of political connections is influenced by the quality of institutional environments. Using data from 90 countries in 2019, this study found that the institutional environment is significantly associated with political connections globally. Specifically, political connections are less prevalent in countries with strong institutional environments. The result is robust across various sub‐samples of non‐US firms, as well as developed and developing nations, and countries with heavy military influence.\n"]