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Does CEO fitness matter?

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  • Limbach, Peter
  • Sonnenburg, Florian

Abstract

This study provides evidence suggesting that CEOs' physical fitness has a positive impact on firm value, consistent with the beneficial effects of fitness on, e.g., cognitive functions, stress coping and job performance. For each of the years 2001 to 2011, we define S&P 1500 CEOs as fit if they finish a marathon. CEO fitness is also associated with higher firm profitability and higher M&A announcement returns. Our identification strategy includes CEO-firm fixed effects, instrumental variables, permutation tests, random effects, and time-varying CEO, firm and industry effects. An additional analysis of sudden CEO deaths, based on a fitness measure not limited to running, confirms our results.

Suggested Citation

  • Limbach, Peter & Sonnenburg, Florian, 2015. "Does CEO fitness matter?," CFR Working Papers 14-12 [rev.3], University of Cologne, Centre for Financial Research (CFR).
    • Handle: RePEc:zbw:cfrwps:1412r3
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    Cited by:

    1. Joseph Raffiee & Daniel Fehder & Florenta Teodoridis, 2022. "Revealing the revealed preferences of public firm CEOs and top executives: A new database from credit card spending," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(10), pages 2042-2065, October.
    2. Harri Raisio & Tero Kuorikoski & Tero Rantala & Mikko Rask, 2021. "“After All, No One Is Superhuman Here”: An Analysis of the Perceived Effects of Managerial Athleticism," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(4), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Dong, Yizhe & Duan, Tinghua & Hou, Wenxuan & Liu, Yue (Lucy), 2019. "Athletes in boardrooms: Evidence from the world," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 165-183.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    CEO heterogeneity; firm value; mergers and acquisitions; physical fitness;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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