Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 109 No. 1 2013

Managerial attitudes and corporate actions

John R. Graham^1,2; Campbell R. Harvey^1,2; Manju Puri^1,2

¹ Duke University · ² National Bureau of Economic Research

Abstract

We administer psychometric tests to senior executives to obtain evidence on their underlying psychological traits and attitudes. We find US CEOs differ significantly from non-US CEOs in terms of their underlying attitudes. In addition, we find that CEOs are significantly more optimistic and risk-tolerant than the lay population. We provide evidence that CEOs' behavioral traits such as optimism and managerial risk-aversion are related to corporate financial policies. Further, we provide new empirical evidence that CEO traits such as risk-aversion and time preference are related to their compensation.

DOI

10.1016/j.jfineco.2013.01.010

Volume

109

Issue

1

Pages

103-121

Language

en

Sources

bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite

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