IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finlet/v58y2023ipds1544612323008942.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does age similarity between board chair and CEO matter for R&D investments? Evidence from China

Author

Listed:
  • Azzam, Ala'a
  • Alhababsah, Salem

Abstract

Psychology literature suggests that the similarity in age between individuals can influence their communication style, interactions, and information exchange. Given that the relationship between board chairperson (Chair) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) involves extensive interactions and information-sharing with the aim to maintain shareholders’ interests, this study seeks an answer as to whether age similarity between Chair and CEO affects R&D investment. Using data from A-share Chinese companies, we find that a similarity in age between the Chair and CEO had a negative impact on R&D intensity. Beyond its valuable contribution to the literature, the finding of this study is significant and relevant for practical applications, as it highlights the importance of considering the age gap between the Chair and CEO for companies looking to enhance corporate governance and maintain innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Azzam, Ala'a & Alhababsah, Salem, 2023. "Does age similarity between board chair and CEO matter for R&D investments? Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 58(PD).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:58:y:2023:i:pd:s1544612323008942
    DOI: 10.1016/j.frl.2023.104522
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1544612323008942
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.frl.2023.104522?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gustavo Manso, 2011. "Motivating Innovation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(5), pages 1823-1860, October.
    2. Dominique Guellec & Bruno Van Pottelsberghe de la Potterie, 2004. "From R&D to Productivity Growth: Do the Institutional Settings and the Source of Funds of R&D Matter?," Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, Department of Economics, University of Oxford, vol. 66(3), pages 353-378, July.
    3. Holmstrom, Bengt, 1989. "Agency costs and innovation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 305-327, December.
    4. Patro, Sukesh & Zhang, Lu Y. & Zhao, Rong, 2018. "Director tenure and corporate social responsibility: The tradeoff between experience and independence," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 51-66.
    5. Yoo, Taeyoung & Sung, Taeyoon, 2015. "How outside directors facilitate corporate R&D investment? Evidence from large Korean firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 68(6), pages 1251-1260.
    6. James D. Westphal & James W. Fredrickson, 2001. "Who directs strategic change? Director experience, the selection of new CEOs, and change in corporate strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(12), pages 1113-1137, December.
    7. Cesare Fracassi & Geoffrey Tate, 2012. "External Networking and Internal Firm Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(1), pages 153-194, February.
    8. Robert E. Hoskisson & Michael A. Hitt, 1988. "Strategic control systems and relative r&d investment in large multiproduct firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(6), pages 605-621, November.
    9. Goergen, Marc & Limbach, Peter & Scholz, Meik, 2015. "Mind the gap: The age dissimilarity between the chair and the CEO," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 136-158.
    10. Kim, JooMan & Yang, Insun & Yang, Taeyong & Koveos, Peter, 2021. "The impact of R&D intensity, financial constraints, and dividend payout policy on firm value," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    11. Larcker, David F. & Rusticus, Tjomme O., 2010. "On the use of instrumental variables in accounting research," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 186-205, April.
    12. Baran, Lindsay & Forst, Arno, 2015. "Disproportionate insider control and board of director characteristics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 62-80.
    13. Himmelberg, Charles P & Petersen, Bruce C, 1994. "R&D and Internal Finance: A Panel Study of Small Firms in High-Tech Industries," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 76(1), pages 38-51, February.
    14. Ryan Krause, 2017. "Being the CEO's boss: An examination of board chair orientations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(3), pages 697-713, March.
    15. Vincent L. Barker , III & George C. Mueller, 2002. "CEO Characteristics and Firm R&D Spending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(6), pages 782-801, June.
    16. Coles, Jeffrey L. & Daniel, Naveen D. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2006. "Managerial incentives and risk-taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(2), pages 431-468, February.
    17. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    18. Faleye, Olubunmi & Kovacs, Tunde & Venkateswaran, Anand, 2014. "Do Better-Connected CEOs Innovate More?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(5-6), pages 1201-1225, December.
    19. Jiang, Fuxiu & Shi, Wei & Zheng, Xiaojia, 2020. "Board chairs and R&D investment: Evidence from Chinese family-controlled firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 109-118.
    20. Mitchell A. Petersen, 2009. "Estimating Standard Errors in Finance Panel Data Sets: Comparing Approaches," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(1), pages 435-480, January.
    21. Michael C. Withers & Markus A. Fitza, 2017. "Do board chairs matter? The influence of board chairs on firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(6), pages 1343-1355, June.
    22. Sasidharan, Subash & Jijo Lukose, P.J. & Komera, Surenderrao, 2015. "Financing constraints and investments in R&D: Evidence from Indian manufacturing firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 28-39.
    23. Renée B. Adams & Daniel Ferreira, 2007. "A Theory of Friendly Boards," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(1), pages 217-250, February.
    24. Le, Son Anh & Walters, Bruce & Kroll, Mark, 2006. "The moderating effects of external monitors on the relationship between R&D spending and firm performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 278-287, February.
    25. Serfling, Matthew A., 2014. "CEO age and the riskiness of corporate policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 251-273.
    26. Wu, Jianfeng & Tu, Rungting, 2007. "CEO stock option pay and R&D spending: a behavioral agency explanation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(5), pages 482-492, May.
    27. Guldiken, Orhun & Darendeli, Izzet Sidki, 2016. "Too much of a good thing: Board monitoring and R&D investments," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 2931-2938.
    28. Christophe Boone & Boris Lokshin & Hannes Guenter & René Belderbos, 2019. "Top management team nationality diversity, corporate entrepreneurship, and innovation in multinational firms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(2), pages 277-302, February.
    29. Praveen Kumar & Dongmei Li, 2016. "Capital Investment, Innovative Capacity, and Stock Returns," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(5), pages 2059-2094, October.
    30. Zhou, Yifan & Kara, Alper & Molyneux, Philip, 2019. "Chair-CEO generation gap and bank risk-taking," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(4), pages 352-372.
    31. Sheng-Syan Chen & Keng-Yu Ho & Po-Hsin Ho, 2014. "CEO Overconfidence and Long-Term Performance Following R&D Increases," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 43(2), pages 245-269, June.
    32. Conyon, Martin J. & Florou, Annita, 2006. "The pattern of investment surrounding CEO retirements: UK evidence," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 299-319.
    33. Waelchli, Urs & Zeller, Jonas, 2013. "Old captains at the helm: Chairman age and firm performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1612-1628.
    34. Cho, Sam Yul & Kim, Sang Kyun, 2017. "Horizon problem and firm innovation: The influence of CEO career horizon, exploitation and exploration on breakthrough innovations," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(10), pages 1801-1809.
    35. Zhang, Dongyang & Guo, Yumei & Wang, Zhaorui & Chen, Yanbin, 2020. "The impact of US monetary policy on Chinese enterprises’ R&D investment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    36. Faleye, Olubunmi & Hoitash, Rani & Hoitash, Udi, 2011. "The costs of intense board monitoring," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(1), pages 160-181, July.
    37. Holmström, Bengt, 1989. "Agency Costs and Innovation," Working Paper Series 214, Research Institute of Industrial Economics.
    38. Christopher S. Tuggle & David G. Sirmon & Christopher R. Reutzel & Leonard Bierman, 2010. "Commanding board of director attention: investigating how organizational performance and CEO duality affect board members' attention to monitoring," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(9), pages 946-968, September.
    39. Kang, Jun-Koo & Liu, Wei-Lin & Low, Angie & Zhang, Le, 2018. "Friendly boards and innovation," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-25.
    40. Ryan Krause & Weiwen Li & Xufei Ma & Garry D. Bruton, 2019. "The board chair effect across countries: An institutional view," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(10), pages 1570-1592, October.
    41. Jadiyappa, Nemiraja & Chauhan, Yogesh, 2023. "Mandatory CSR regulation and R&D investments: Evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PA).
    42. Thomas Dalziel & Richard J. Gentry & Michael Bowerman, 2011. "An Integrated Agency–Resource Dependence View of the Influence of Directors' Human and Relational Capital on Firms' R&D Spending," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48, pages 1217-1242, September.
    43. Kakabadse, Andrew P. & Kakabadse, Nada K. & Knyght, Reeves, 2010. "The chemistry factor in the Chairman/CEO relationship," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 28(4), pages 285-296, August.
    44. Fan, Yaoyao & Boateng, Agyenim & King, Timothy & MacRae, Claire, 2019. "Board-CEO friendship ties and firm value: Evidence from US firms," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    45. Zhou, Bing & Dutta, Shantanu & Zhu, Pengcheng, 2020. "CEO tenure and mergers and acquisitions," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 34(C).
    46. Wintoki, M. Babajide & Linck, James S. & Netter, Jeffry M., 2012. "Endogeneity and the dynamics of internal corporate governance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(3), pages 581-606.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Asad, Muhammad & Akbar, Saeed & Li, Jing & Shah, Syed Zulfiqar Ali, 2023. "Board diversity and corporate propensity to R&D spending," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    2. Anup Banerjee & Mattias Nordqvist & Karin Hellerstedt, 2020. "The role of the board chair—A literature review and suggestions for future research," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 372-405, November.
    3. Christopher Kurzhals & Lorenz Graf‐Vlachy & Andreas König, 2020. "Strategic leadership and technological innovation: A comprehensive review and research agenda," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 437-464, November.
    4. Goergen, Marc & Limbach, Peter & Scholz, Meik, 2015. "Mind the gap: The age dissimilarity between the chair and the CEO," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 136-158.
    5. Guldiken, Orhun & Darendeli, Izzet Sidki, 2016. "Too much of a good thing: Board monitoring and R&D investments," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 69(8), pages 2931-2938.
    6. Fan, Yaoyao & Jiang, Yuxiang & Jin, Pengcheng & Mai, Yong, 2023. "CEO network centrality and bank risk: Evidence from US Bank holding companies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    7. Honoré, Florence & Munari, Federico & van Pottelsberghe de La Potterie, Bruno, 2015. "Corporate governance practices and companies’ R&D intensity: Evidence from European countries," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 533-543.
    8. Zaman, Rashid & Atawnah, Nader & Baghdadi, Ghasan A. & Liu, Jia, 2021. "Fiduciary duty or loyalty? Evidence from co-opted boards and corporate misconduct," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Z. Jun Lin & Shengqiang Liu & Fangcheng Sun, 2017. "The Impact of Financing Constraints and Agency Costs on Corporate R&D Investment: Evidence from China," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 17(1), pages 3-42, March.
    10. Han, Feng & Qin, Qi & Peabody, S. Drew, 2022. "Does incentive conflict between CEOs and CFOs benefit firms? Implications for corporate decision-making," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    11. Wei-Fong Pan, 2019. "Geopolitical Risk and R&D investment," Economics Discussion Papers em-dp2019-11, Department of Economics, University of Reading.
    12. Huang, Yi-Hou & Liang, Woan-lih & Truong, Quang-Thai & Wang, Yanzhi, 2022. "No new tricks for old dogs? Old directors and innovation performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    13. Sandvik, Jason, 2020. "Board monitoring, director connections, and credit quality☆," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    14. Zhao, Qifeng & Li, Zhen & Yu, Yihua, 2021. "Does top management quality promote innovation? Firm-level evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    15. Perihan Iren & Kienpin Tee, 2018. "Boardroom Diversity And Innovation In The Uae Banks," International Journal of Innovation Management (ijim), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(03), pages 1-25, April.
    16. Olson, Adam J. & Yust, Christopher G. & Christensen, Brant E., 2023. "Are public health policies associated with corporate innovation? Evidence from U.S. nonsmoking laws," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(10).
    17. Fan, Yaoyao & Jiang, Yuxiang & John, Kose & Liu, Frank Hong, 2021. "From watchdog to watchman: Do independent directors monitor a CEO of their own age?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 206-229.
    18. Lu, Jun & Wang, Wei, 2018. "Managerial conservatism, board independence and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 1-16.
    19. Kang, Jun-Koo & Liu, Wei-Lin & Low, Angie & Zhang, Le, 2018. "Friendly boards and innovation," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 1-25.
    20. I-Ju Chen & Wei Chih Lin & Huai-Chun Lo & Sheng-Syan Chen, 2023. "Board diversity and corporate innovation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 61(1), pages 63-123, July.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:finlet:v:58:y:2023:i:pd:s1544612323008942. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/frl .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.