IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v213y2023icp151-171.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Managerial human capital and corporate R&D investment

Author

Listed:
  • Xu, Jing
  • Li, Haizheng

Abstract

In this study, we employ firm-level panel data from China to study how the human capital characteristics of a firm's leadership affect R&D investment. One novel feature of this study is that we include human capital traits of both the CEO and the Board of Directors, as well as their interplay. Human capital is measured with various experiences to capture observed and unobserved traits. Using various econometric techniques, we find that both CEO's and BOD's human capital characteristics have a significant impact on R&D investment. CEOs’ innovation experience and overseas experiences promote innovation, while their production experience hinders it. The education and government experiences of board directors show different impacts on R&D investment. Moreover, the human capital traits of CEO and BOD influence each other and thus jointly affect innovation. The effects of leadership human capital on R&D investment are more profound in tech-intensive and smaller firms than in traditional or larger firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Xu, Jing & Li, Haizheng, 2023. "Managerial human capital and corporate R&D investment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 151-171.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:213:y:2023:i:c:p:151-171
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2023.07.021
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268123002548
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2023.07.021?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. Carola Frydman, 2019. "Rising Through the Ranks: The Evolution of the Market for Corporate Executives, 1936–2003," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(11), pages 4951-4979, November.
    2. 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.
    3. Lin, Yongjia & Fu, Xiaoqing & Fu, Xiaolan, 2021. "Varieties in state capitalism and corporate innovation: Evidence from an emerging economy," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    4. Byun, SeongK. & Fuller, Kathleen & Lin, Zhilu, 2021. "The costs and benefits associated with inventor CEOs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    5. Cláudia Custódio & Miguel A. Ferreira & Pedro Matos, 2019. "Do General Managerial Skills Spur Innovation?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(2), pages 459-476, February.
    6. David H. Autor & Frank Levy & Richard J. Murnane, 2003. "The skill content of recent technological change: an empirical exploration," Proceedings, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, issue Nov.
    7. Sunder, Jayanthi & Sunder, Shyam V. & Zhang, Jingjing, 2017. "Pilot CEOs and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 209-224.
    8. Orhun Guldiken & Mark R. Mallon & Stav Fainshmidt & William Q. Judge & Cynthia E. Clark, 2019. "Beyond tokenism: How strategic leaders influence more meaningful gender diversity on boards of directors," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(12), pages 2024-2046, December.
    9. 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.
    10. Chen, Shimin & Sun, Zheng & Tang, Song & Wu, Donghui, 2011. "Government intervention and investment efficiency: Evidence from China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 259-271, April.
    11. Robert Gibbons & Michael Waldman, 2004. "Task-Specific Human Capital," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 94(2), pages 203-207, May.
    12. Czarnitzki, Dirk & Kraft, Kornelius, 2009. "Capital control, debt financing and innovative activity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 372-383, August.
    13. Robert E. Carpenter & Bruce C. Petersen, 2002. "Is The Growth Of Small Firms Constrained By Internal Finance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 84(2), pages 298-309, May.
    14. Sabrina T. Howell, 2017. "Financing Innovation: Evidence from R&D Grants," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 107(4), pages 1136-1164, April.
    15. Custódio, Cláudia & Ferreira, Miguel A. & Matos, Pedro, 2013. "Generalists versus specialists: Lifetime work experience and chief executive officer pay," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 471-492.
    16. Zhao Chen & Zhikuo Liu & Juan Carlos Suárez Serrato & Daniel Yi Xu, 2021. "Notching R&D Investment with Corporate Income Tax Cuts in China," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 111(7), pages 2065-2100, July.
    17. Ferris, Stephen P. & Javakhadze, David & Rajkovic, Tijana, 2017. "CEO social capital, risk-taking and corporate policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 46-71.
    18. Maxim Poletaev & Chris Robinson, 2008. "Human Capital Specificity: Evidence from the Dictionary of Occupational Titles and Displaced Worker Surveys, 1984-2000," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(3), pages 387-420, July.
    19. Hsieh, Tien-Shih & Kim, Jeong-Bon & Wang, Ray R. & Wang, Zhihong, 2022. "Educate to innovate: STEM directors and corporate innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 138(C), pages 229-238.
    20. Buurman, Margaretha & Delfgaauw, Josse & Dur, Robert & Van den Bossche, Seth, 2012. "Public sector employees: Risk averse and altruistic?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 83(3), pages 279-291.
    21. Cao, Xiaping & Pan, Xiaofei & Qian, Meijun & Tian, Gary Gang, 2017. "Political capital and CEO entrenchment: Evidence from CEO turnover in Chinese non-SOEs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1-14.
    22. Alberto Galasso & Timothy S. Simcoe, 2011. "CEO Overconfidence and Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(8), pages 1469-1484, August.
    23. Mike W. Peng & Sunny Li Sun & Lívia Markóczy, 2015. "Human Capital and CEO Compensation during Institutional Transitions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 52(1), pages 117-147, January.
    24. Yongwook Paik & Heejin Woo, 2017. "The Effects of Corporate Venture Capital, Founder Incumbency, and Their Interaction on Entrepreneurial Firms’ R&D Investment Strategies," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 28(4), pages 670-689, August.
    25. Sullivan, Paul, 2010. "Empirical evidence on occupation and industry specific human capital," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 567-580, June.
    26. Qinyi Liu & Belton M. Fleisher, 2022. "Job tasks and cognitive skill accumulation," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 54(49), pages 5734-5753, October.
    27. Arellano, Manuel & Bover, Olympia, 1995. "Another look at the instrumental variable estimation of error-components models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 68(1), pages 29-51, July.
    28. Xavier Vives, 2008. "Innovation And Competitive Pressure," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(3), pages 419-469, December.
    29. Musteen, Martina & Barker III, Vincent L. & Baeten, Virginia L., 2006. "CEO attributes associated with attitude toward change: The direct and moderating effects of CEO tenure," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 59(5), pages 604-612, May.
    30. Kong, Dongmin & Zhao, Ying & Liu, Shasha, 2021. "Trust and innovation: Evidence from CEOs' early-life experience," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    31. Papadimitri, Panagiota & Pasiouras, Fotios & Tasiou, Menelaos & Ventouri, Alexia, 2020. "The effects of board of directors’ education on firms’ credit ratings," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 294-313.
    32. Deniz Ucbasaran & Paul Westhead & Mike Wright, 2008. "Opportunity Identification and Pursuit: Does an Entrepreneur’s Human Capital Matter?," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 30(2), pages 153-173, February.
    33. Dongmei Li, 2011. "Financial Constraints, R&D Investment, and Stock Returns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(9), pages 2974-3007.
    34. David Hirshleifer & Angie Low & Siew Hong Teoh, 2012. "Are Overconfident CEOs Better Innovators?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1457-1498, August.
    35. Morten Bennedsen & Francisco Pérez‐González & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2020. "Do CEOs Matter? Evidence from Hospitalization Events," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 75(4), pages 1877-1911, August.
    36. Boeing, Philipp & Mueller, Elisabeth & Sandner, Philipp, 2016. "China's R&D explosion—Analyzing productivity effects across ownership types and over time," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(1), pages 159-176.
    37. Zona, Fabio, 2016. "Agency models in different stages of CEO tenure: The effects of stock options and board independence on R&D investment," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 560-575.
    38. Ucbasaran, Deniz & Westhead, Paul & Wright, Mike, 2009. "The extent and nature of opportunity identification by experienced entrepreneurs," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 24(2), pages 99-115, March.
    39. Blundell, Richard & Bond, Stephen, 1998. "Initial conditions and moment restrictions in dynamic panel data models," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 115-143, August.
    40. Bee Yan Aw & Mark J. Roberts & Daniel Yi Xu, 2008. "R&D Investments, Exporting, and the Evolution of Firm Productivity," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 98(2), pages 451-456, May.
    41. Lin, Chen & Lin, Ping & Song, Frank M. & Li, Chuntao, 2011. "Managerial incentives, CEO characteristics and corporate innovation in China's private sector," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 176-190, June.
    42. Dai, Xiaoyong & Chapman, Gary, 2022. "R&D tax incentives and innovation: Examining the role of programme design in China," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    43. Lee, Chang-Yang & Sung, Taeyoon, 2005. "Schumpeter's legacy: A new perspective on the relationship between firm size and R&D," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(6), pages 914-931, August.
    44. Shintaro Yamaguchi, 2012. "Tasks and Heterogeneous Human Capital," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(1), pages 1-53.
    45. Shinwoo Kang & E Han Kim & Yao Lu, 2018. "Does Independent Directors’ CEO Experience Matter?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(3), pages 905-949.
    46. Marko Reimer & Sebastiaan Doorn & Mariano L. M. Heyden, 2018. "Unpacking Functional Experience Complementarities in Senior Leaders’ Influences on CSR Strategy: A CEO–Top Management Team Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 977-995, September.
    47. Block, Joern H., 2012. "R&D investments in family and founder firms: An agency perspective," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 248-265.
    48. M. Cecilia Bustamante & Laurent Frésard, 2021. "Does Firm Investment Respond to Peers’ Investment?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(8), pages 4703-4724, August.
    49. Campbell, T. Colin & Gallmeyer, Michael & Johnson, Shane A. & Rutherford, Jessica & Stanley, Brooke W., 2011. "CEO optimism and forced turnover," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(3), pages 695-712, September.
    50. Chapman, Gary & Hewitt-Dundas, Nola, 2018. "The effect of public support on senior manager attitudes to innovation," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 28-39.
    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. 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.
    2. Çolak, Gönül & Korkeamäki, Timo, 2021. "CEO mobility and corporate policy risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    3. Ren, Shenggang & Cheng, Yingmei & Hu, Yucai & Yin, Chao, 2021. "Feeling right at home: Hometown CEOs and firm innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    4. Liu, Guangqiang & Xie, Ziqin & Li, Ming, 2023. "Does economics and management education make managers more cautious? Evidence from R&D of Chinese listed firms," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Tutun Mukherjee & Som Sankar Sen, 2022. "Impact of CEO attributes on corporate reputation, financial performance, and corporate sustainable growth: evidence from India," Financial Innovation, Springer;Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, vol. 8(1), pages 1-50, December.
    6. Baghdadi, Ghasan A. & Safiullah, Md & Heyden, Mariano L.M., 2023. "Do gender diverse boards enhance managerial ability?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    7. Ralph Stinebrickner & Todd Stinebrickner & Paul Sullivan, 2019. "Job Tasks, Time Allocation, and Wages," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 37(2), pages 399-433.
    8. Tu Nguyen & Jing Zhao, 2021. "Industry tournament incentives and corporate innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 1797-1845, October.
    9. Qing Wan & Xiaoke Cheng & Kam C. Chan & Shenghao Gao, 2021. "Born to innovate? The birth‐order effect of CEOs on corporate innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 1846-1888, October.
    10. Li, Yafei & Mbanyele, William & Sun, Jinping, 2022. "Managerial R&D hands-on experience, state ownership, and corporate innovation," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    11. Carl Sanders & Christopher Taber, 2012. "Life-Cycle Wage Growth and Heterogeneous Human Capital," Annual Review of Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 399-425, July.
    12. Sun, Helin & Cappa, Francesco & Zhu, Jia & Peruffo, Enzo, 2023. "The effect of CEO social capital, CEO duality and state-ownership on corporate innovation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).
    13. Tian, Guangning & Zhou, Shuyuan & Hsu, Sara, 2020. "Executive financial literacy and firm innovation in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    14. Lee, Joon Mahn & Kim, Jongsoo & Bae, Joonhyung, 2020. "Founder CEOs and innovation: Evidence from CEO sudden deaths in public firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(1).
    15. Sun, Lan & Liu, Shaobo & Chen, Peng, 2022. "Does the paternalism of founder-managers improve firm innovation? Evidence from Chinese non-state-owned listed firms," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    16. Chen, Xihui Haviour & Tee, Kienpin & Chang, Victor, 2022. "Accelerating Innovation Efficiency through Agile Leadership: The CEO Network Effects in China," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    17. Ding, Xiaoya (Sara) & Guo, Mengmeng & Kuai, Yicheng & Niu, Geng, 2023. "Social trust and firm innovation: Evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 84(C), pages 474-493.
    18. Ahmad, Muhammad Farooq & Aziz, Saqib & Dowling, Michael & Kowalewski, Oskar, 2023. "Board reforms and innovation," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    19. Kallias, Antonios & Kallias, Konstantinos & Tsalkamas, Ioannis & Zhang, Song, 2023. "One size does not fit all: The conditional role of CEO education on IPO performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    20. Guido Matias Cortes, 2016. "Where Have the Middle-Wage Workers Gone? A Study of Polarization Using Panel Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 34(1), pages 63-105.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Leadership human capital; Experience-based human capital measures; The interplay of CEO and BOD; R&D investment; Hausman-Taylor GMM estimation;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis
    • D80 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - General
    • L20 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior - - - General
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:jeborg:v:213:y:2023:i:c:p:151-171. 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/jebo .

    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.