Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • February 2018
  • Article
  • Journal of Accounting & Economics

Bank CEO Materialism: Risk Controls, Culture and Tail Risk

By: Robert Bushman, Robert Davidson, Aiyesha Dey and Abbie Smith
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

We investigate how the prevalence of materialistic bank CEOs has evolved over time and how risk management policies, non-CEO executives’ behavior, and tail risk vary with CEO materialism. We document that the proportion of banks run by materialistic CEOs increased significantly from 1994 to 2004, that the strength of risk management functions is significantly lower for banks with materialistic CEOs, and that non-CEO executives in banks with materialistic CEOs insider trade more aggressively around government intervention during the financial crisis. Finally, we find that banks with materialistic CEOs have significantly more downside tail risk relative to banks with non-materialistic CEOs.

Keywords

Management; Personal Characteristics; Behavior; Risk Management; Organizational Culture; Banks and Banking; Banking Industry

Citation

Bushman, Robert, Robert Davidson, Aiyesha Dey, and Abbie Smith. "Bank CEO Materialism: Risk Controls, Culture and Tail Risk." Journal of Accounting & Economics 65, no. 1 (February 2018): 191–220.
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Author

Aiyesha Dey

Accounting and Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • Fall 2020
    • Contemporary Accounting Research

    Executives' Legal Records and the Deterrent Effect of Corporate Governance

    By: Robert Davidson, Aiyesha Dey and Abbie Smith
    • July 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Gender Diversity on Boards: Views from Norway

    By: Aiyesha Dey
    • July 2020
    • Faculty Research

    Board Diversity at Amazon (B): The Board's Decision

    By: Aiyesha Dey and Anu Atluru
More from the Authors
  • Executives' Legal Records and the Deterrent Effect of Corporate Governance By: Robert Davidson, Aiyesha Dey and Abbie Smith
  • Gender Diversity on Boards: Views from Norway By: Aiyesha Dey
  • Board Diversity at Amazon (B): The Board's Decision By: Aiyesha Dey and Anu Atluru
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College