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CEO Personality and Firm Policies

By: Ian D. Gow, Steven N. Kaplan, David F. Larcker and Anastasia A. Zakolyukina
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
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Abstract

Based on two samples of high quality personality data for chief executive officers (CEOs), we use linguistic features extracted from conferences calls and statistical learning techniques to develop a measure of CEO personality in terms of the Big Five traits: agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, neuroticism, and openness to experience. These personality measures have strong out-of-sample predictive performance and are stable over time. Our measures of the Big Five personality traits are associated with financing choices, investment choices, and firm operating performance.

Keywords

Interpersonal Communication; Personal Characteristics; Management Teams

Citation

Gow, Ian D., Steven N. Kaplan, David F. Larcker, and Anastasia A. Zakolyukina. "CEO Personality and Firm Policies." NBER Working Paper Series, No. 22435, July 2016.

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