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Journal of Corporate Finance Vol. 95 2025

Birth order and fund manager’s trading behavior: Role of sibling rivalry

Vikas Agarwal1; Alexander Cochardt2; Vitaly Orlov2,3

1 Georgia State University · 2 University of St.Gallen · 3 Swiss Finance Institute

open access

Abstract

Using rich data on familial background of US mutual fund managers, this paper sheds light on the formation of risk preferences by investigating birth order effects. Consistent with sensation-seeking behavior, we find that managers who are born later in the sibling hierarchy take more risks but perform worse relative to lower-birth-order managers. Later-born managers take more extreme style bets, hold more lottery stocks, churn their portfolios more, and engage in more civil and regulatory violations. These birth-order effects are more pronounced when parental resources are limited and age spacing is lower between siblings, suggesting sibling rivalry as a potential mechanism.

DOI
10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2025.102852
Volume
95
Pages
102852
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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