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CEO power and matching leverage preferences

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  • Korkeamäki, Timo
  • Liljeblom, Eva
  • Pasternack, Daniel

Abstract

We study the effect of managerial power on CEOs' tendency to imprint their personal leverage preferences upon the firms they manage. Using a unique data source that allows us to measure personal wealth and indebtness in great detail, we find a connection between CEOs' personal leverage and that of their firms. The connection is driven by the CEOs with a longer tenure and the CEOs who serve in a dual role. The connection is significantly weaker for those CEOs who have a proportion of their personal wealth tied to the firm. Presence of block holders also weakens the connection.

Suggested Citation

  • Korkeamäki, Timo & Liljeblom, Eva & Pasternack, Daniel, 2017. "CEO power and matching leverage preferences," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 19-30.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:45:y:2017:i:c:p:19-30
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2017.04.007
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    Cited by:

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    3. Sun, Li & Skousen, Christopher J., 2022. "CEO power and discontinued operations," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 58(C).
    4. Malmendier, Ulrike & Pezone, Vincenzo & Zheng, Hui, 2023. "Managerial duties and managerial biases," Other publications TiSEM 0a626e3a-92f0-4077-bc4c-6, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Jun Xie & Wataru Nozawa & Shunsuke Managi, 2023. "The nexus of top executives’ attributes, firm strategies, and outcomes: Large firms versus SMEs," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-15, December.
    6. Harper, Joel & Johnson, Grace & Sun, Li, 2020. "Stock price crash risk and CEO power: Firm-level analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    7. Justin Law & Wayne Yu, 2018. "Corporate spinoffs and executive compensation," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, December.
    8. Gunasekarage, Abeyratna & Luong, Hoa & Truong, Thanh Tan, 2020. "Growth and market share matrix, CEO power, and firm performance," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    9. Dawood Ashraf & Mohsin Khawaja & M. Ishaq Bhatti, 2022. "Raising capital amid economic policy uncertainty: an empirical investigation," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-32, December.
    10. Çolak, Gönül & Korkeamäki, Timo, 2021. "CEO mobility and corporate policy risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    11. Sun, Li & Johnson, Grace & Bradley, Wray, 2022. "CEO power and annual report reading difficulty," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2).
    12. Maisam Ali & Christopher Gan & Muhammad Nadeem, 2023. "A CEO's expertise power and bank diversification," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(4), pages 3815-3840, December.
    13. Schopohl, Lisa & Urquhart, Andrew & Zhang, Hanxiong, 2021. "Female CFOs, leverage and the moderating role of board diversity and CEO power," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    14. Zhi Su & Bo Yi & Linan Wang, 2022. "Is corporate philanthropy a pretext for executives' excess perk consumption? Evidence from China," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(8), pages 4010-4027, December.

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