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Do CEOs Matter? Evidence from Hospitalization Events

Morten Bennedsen, Francisco Pérez‐González, Daniel WolfenzonFinance公司金融UTD24
Journal of Finance2020-03-03Institute for Security StudiesDOI
Citations223
Influential2
References19
Semantic Scholar

ABSTRACT Using variation in firms’ exposure to their CEOs resulting from hospitalization, we estimate the effect of chief executive officers (CEOs) on firm policies, holding firm‐CEO matches constant. We document three main findings. First, CEOs have a significant effect on profitability and investment. Second, CEO effects are larger for younger CEOs, in growing and family‐controlled firms, and in human‐capital‐intensive industries. Third, CEOs are unique: the hospitalization of other senior executives does not have similar effects on the performance. Overall, our findings demonstrate that CEOs are a key driver of firm performance, which suggests that CEO contingency plans are valuable.

BusinessPsychologyCorporate Finance and GovernanceFinancial Markets and Investment StrategiesAuditing, Earnings Management, Governance