IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v79y2023ics0927538x2300118x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Can military executives improve corporate performance? Evidence from industrial competitive pressure

Author

Listed:
  • Hao, Ying
  • Li, Junyi
  • Ni, Juan
  • Yin, Ziqi

Abstract

We examine whether top executives with military experience improve corporate performance compared with nonmilitary executives. We find that firms with military executives have better sales growth, cost efficiency and operating performance than do firms with nonmilitary executives but mainly in highly competitive industries. The results are robust to adopting the PSM method and confronting changes in the competitive condition. Furthermore, we find that military executives influence corporate performance through the pressure resistance and organizational culture channels. In addition, executives with military experience are associated with fewer product recall and workplace safety cases and implement better quality and safety management than do nonmilitary executives. The relation is also strongest for highly competitive industries—even with financial constraints—indicating that military executives do not profit at the expense of product quality and workplace safety. Our findings suggest that military experience as a determinant of managerial traits constantly impacts decision-making and corporate performance.

Suggested Citation

  • Hao, Ying & Li, Junyi & Ni, Juan & Yin, Ziqi, 2023. "Can military executives improve corporate performance? Evidence from industrial competitive pressure," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:79:y:2023:i:c:s0927538x2300118x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2023.102052
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X2300118X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2023.102052?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. Omesh Kini & Jaideep Shenoy & Venkat Subramaniam, 2017. "Impact of Financial Leverage on the Incidence and Severity of Product Failures: Evidence from Product Recalls," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(5), pages 1790-1829.
    2. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate, 2005. "CEO Overconfidence and Corporate Investment," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(6), pages 2661-2700, December.
    3. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    4. Chevalier, Judith A & Scharfstein, David S, 1996. "Capital-Market Imperfections and Countercyclical Markups: Theory and Evidence," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(4), pages 703-725, September.
    5. Pruitt, Stephen W. & Reilly, Robert J. & Hoffer, George E., 1988. "The effect of media presentation on the formation of economic expectations: Some initial evidence," Journal of Economic Psychology, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 315-325, September.
    6. Jonathan B. Cohn & Malcolm I. Wardlaw, 2016. "Financing Constraints and Workplace Safety," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 71(5), pages 2017-2058, October.
    7. Morten Bennedsen & Kasper Meisner Nielsen & Francisco Perez-Gonzalez & Daniel Wolfenzon, 2007. "Inside the Family Firm: The Role of Families in Succession Decisions and Performance," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(2), pages 647-691.
    8. Cronqvist, Henrik & Yu, Frank, 2017. "Shaped by their daughters: Executives, female socialization, and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(3), pages 543-562.
    9. Maksimovic, Vojislav & Titman, Sheridan, 1991. "Financial Policy and Reputation for Product Quality," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 4(1), pages 175-200.
    10. Walters, Bruce A. & Kroll, Mark J. & Wright, Peter, 2007. "CEO tenure, boards of directors, and acquisition performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 331-338, April.
    11. Bae, Kee-Hong & Kang, Jun-Koo & Wang, Jin, 2011. "Employee treatment and firm leverage: A test of the stakeholder theory of capital structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 130-153, April.
    12. Huang, Jiekun & Kisgen, Darren J., 2013. "Gender and corporate finance: Are male executives overconfident relative to female executives?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(3), pages 822-839.
    13. Barber, Brad M & Darrough, Masako N, 1996. "Product Reliability and Firm Value: The Experience of American and Japanese Automakers, 1973-1992," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(5), pages 1084-1099, October.
    14. Joel Peress, 2010. "Product Market Competition, Insider Trading, and Stock Market Efficiency," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 65(1), pages 1-43, February.
    15. David A. Matsa, 2011. "Running on Empty? Financial Leverage and Product Quality in the Supermarket Industry," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 3(1), pages 137-173, February.
    16. Marianne Bertrand & Antoinette Schoar, 2003. "Managing with Style: The Effect of Managers on Firm Policies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1169-1208.
    17. Steven N. Kaplan & Mark M. Klebanov & Morten Sorensen, 2012. "Which CEO Characteristics and Abilities Matter?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(3), pages 973-1007, June.
    18. Campello, Murillo, 2006. "Debt financing: Does it boost or hurt firm performance in product markets?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 135-172, October.
    19. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November.
    20. Xavier Giroud & Holger M. Mueller, 2011. "Corporate Governance, Product Market Competition, and Equity Prices," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(2), pages 563-600, April.
    21. Nie, Huihua & Zhao, Huainan, 2013. "Leverage and Employee Death: Evidence from China’s Coalmining Industry," MPRA Paper 52343, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    22. Randall K. Filer & Devra L. Golbe, 2003. "Debt, Operating Margin, and Investment In Workplace Safety," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 51(3), pages 359-381, September.
    23. Jarrell, Gregg & Peltzman, Sam, 1985. "The Impact of Product Recalls on the Wealth of Sellers," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 93(3), pages 512-536, June.
    24. Kelvin K. F. Law & Lillian F. Mills, 2017. "Military experience and corporate tax avoidance," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 141-184, March.
    25. Hoitash, Rani & Hoitash, Udi & Kurt, Ahmet C., 2016. "Do accountants make better chief financial officers?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 414-432.
    26. Jin-hui Luo & Yuangao Xiang & Ruichao Zhu, 2017. "Military top executives and corporate philanthropy: Evidence from China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 34(3), pages 725-755, September.
    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. Bae, Kee-Hong & El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & Zheng, Ying, 2019. "Does corporate social responsibility reduce the costs of high leverage? Evidence from capital structure and product market interactions," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 135-150.
    2. El Ghoul, Sadok & Guedhami, Omrane & Kwok, Chuck C.Y. & Zheng, Ying, 2019. "Collectivism and the costs of high leverage," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 227-245.
    3. Friedrich, Benjamin U. & Zator, Michał, 2023. "Flexibility costs of debt: Danish exporters during the cartoon crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 148(2), pages 91-117.
    4. Zhe Li & Oksana Pryshchepa & Bo Wang, 2023. "Financial experts on the top management team: Do they reduce investment inefficiency?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(1-2), pages 198-235, January.
    5. Nguyen, Hung T. & Pham, Mia Hang & Truong, Cameron, 2023. "Leadership in a pandemic: Do more able managers keep firms out of trouble?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    6. Lin, Lin & Nguyen, Nhut Hoang & Young, Martin & Zou, Liping, 2021. "Military executives and corporate outcomes: Evidence from China," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(C).
    7. Tuli, Kapil R. & Mukherjee, Anirban & Dekimpe, Marnik G., 2012. "On the Value Relevance of Retailer Advertising Spending and Same-store Sales Growth," Journal of Retailing, Elsevier, vol. 88(4), pages 447-461.
    8. Sertsios, Giorgo, 2020. "Corporate finance, industrial organization, and organizational economics," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    9. Hao, Ying & Huang, Yuxiu & Cui, Xuegang & Liu, Qiang & Zhang, Yuwen, 2021. "CEO experience and corporate financing decisions: Evidence from a natural experiment in China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    10. Baghdadi, Ghasan & Podolski, Edward J. & Veeraraghavan, Madhu, 2022. "CEO risk-seeking and corporate tax avoidance: Evidence from pilot CEOs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    11. Manuel Adelino & Katharina Lewellen & W. Ben McCartney, 2022. "Hospital Financial Health and Clinical Choices: Evidence from the Financial Crisis," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(3), pages 2098-2119, March.
    12. Antoinette Schoar & Kelvin Yeung & Luo Zuo, 2020. "The Effect of Managers on Systematic Risk," NBER Working Papers 27487, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    13. Lee Seltzer, 2021. "Financing Constraints and Maintenance Investments: Evidence from Apartments," Staff Reports 1000, Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
    14. Ulrike Malmendier & Vincenzo Pezone & Hui Zheng, 2023. "Managerial Duties and Managerial Biases," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 69(6), pages 3174-3201, June.
    15. Oriana Bandiera & Renata Lemos & Andrea Prat & Raffaella Sadun, 2018. "Managing the Family Firm: Evidence from CEOs at Work," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(5), pages 1605-1653.
    16. Omesh Kini & Mo Shen & Jaideep Shenoy & Venkat Subramaniam, 2022. "Labor Unions and Product Quality Failures," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(7), pages 5403-5440, July.
    17. Matthias Fahn & Valeria Merlo & Georg Wamser, 2019. "The Commitment Role of Equity Financing," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 17(4), pages 1232-1260.
    18. Nicholas Bloom & Scott Ohlmacher & Cristina Tello-Trillo & Melanie Wallskog, 2021. "Pay, Productivity and Management," Working Papers 21-31, Center for Economic Studies, U.S. Census Bureau.
    19. Antonczyk, Ron Christian & Salzmann, Astrid Juliane, 2014. "Overconfidence and optimism: The effect of national culture on capital structure," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 132-151.
    20. Bernini, Michele & Guillou, Sarah & Bellone, Flora, 2015. "Financial leverage and export quality: Evidence from France," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 280-296.

    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:pacfin:v:79:y:2023:i:c:s0927538x2300118x. 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/pacfin .

    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.