IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jadmsc/v14y2024i11p304-d1523122.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

How Much Does the CEO’s Age Impact Corporate Performance Under a Changing Environment?

Author

Listed:
  • Joohee Han

    (Department of Business Administration, Gachon University, Seongnam-si 13120, Republic of Korea)

  • Sung Jun Jo

    (Department of Business Administration, Gachon University, Seongnam-si 13120, Republic of Korea)

Abstract

The recent technological innovations and the consequences of the pandemic are rapidly changing the management paradigm. Organizations that seek to survive and remain competitive must adapt to these changes. One strategy to cope with these environmental changes is to hire a younger CEO. This study aims to empirically analyze how the age of the CEO affects the performance of the firm based on upper echelons theory. Using a sample of 706 CEOs of companies listed on the South Korean public stock market (KOSPI) as of 2023, we found that CEO age is positively related to financial performance. We also found that CEO age is negatively related to risk-taking behavior and innovation. These findings have both practical and theoretical implications, suggesting that the recent shift to the relationship between a long-term perspective and innovation have positive implications. Young CEOs often seek these perspectives and are more willing to be aggressive in investment and risk-taking behaviors in the interests offor an innovative business.

Suggested Citation

  • Joohee Han & Sung Jun Jo, 2024. "How Much Does the CEO’s Age Impact Corporate Performance Under a Changing Environment?," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 14(11), pages 1-11, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jadmsc:v:14:y:2024:i:11:p:304-:d:1523122
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/14/11/304/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3387/14/11/304/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Trueman, Brett, 1986. "Why do managers voluntarily release earnings forecasts?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 53-71, March.
    2. Gibbons, Robert & Murphy, Kevin J, 1992. "Optimal Incentive Contracts in the Presence of Career Concerns: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(3), pages 468-505, June.
    3. Hall, Bronwyn H & Ziedonis, Rosemarie Ham, 2001. "The Patent Paradox Revisited: An Empirical Study of Patenting in the U.S. Semiconductor Industry, 1979-1995," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(1), pages 101-128, Spring.
    4. Michael Schwarz & Sergei Severinov, 2009. "Investment Tournaments: When Should a Rational Agent Put All Eggs in One Basket?," NBER Working Papers 15136, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    5. Li, Xiaoyang & Low, Angie & Makhija, Anil K., 2017. "Career concerns and the busy life of the young CEO," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 88-109.
    6. Yim, Soojin, 2013. "The acquisitiveness of youth: CEO age and acquisition behavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 250-273.
    7. Bliss, Richard T. & Rosen, Richard J., 2001. "CEO compensation and bank mergers," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 61(1), pages 107-138, July.
    8. Serfling, Matthew A., 2014. "CEO age and the riskiness of corporate policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 251-273.
    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. Jeongdae Yim & Minju Kang, 2024. "CEO age and firm innovation: evidence from IT industry in Korea," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 14(2), pages 345-367, June.
    2. Trabert, Sebastian, 2023. "Do younger CEOs really increase firm risk? Evidence from sudden CEO deaths," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. McGuinness, Paul B., 2021. "Board member age, stock seasoning and the evolution of capital structure in Chinese firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).
    4. Brick, Ivan E. & Palia, Darius & Qiao, Yankuo, 2024. "Impact of internal governance on investment policy: Evidence from CEO voluntary turnovers," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(C).
    5. Burney, Robert B. & James, Hui Liang & Wang, Hongxia, 2021. "Working capital management and CEO age," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(C).
    6. Kabir, Rezaul & Li, Hao & Veld-Merkoulova, Yulia, 2018. "Do managers act opportunistically towards the end of their career?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 218-232.
    7. Hui Liang James, 2020. "CEO age and tax planning," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(2), pages 275-299, April.
    8. Gaurav Gupta, 2022. "CEO's age and investment‐cash flow sensitivity," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(6), pages 2212-2224, September.
    9. Xin Liu, 2020. "Impression management against early dismissal? CEO succession and corporate social responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 999-1016, March.
    10. Çolak, Gönül & Korkeamäki, Timo, 2021. "CEO mobility and corporate policy risk," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    11. He Xiao, 2023. "Institutional investors' corporate site visits and corporate investment efficiency," International Review of Finance, International Review of Finance Ltd., vol. 23(2), pages 359-392, June.
    12. Hari P. Adhikari & Marcin W. Krolikowski & James Malm & Nilesh B. Sah, 2021. "Working capital (mis)management – impact of executive age," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(1), pages 727-761, March.
    13. Xi Zhao & Meiling Tang, 2023. "CEO age and entry timing within industry merger waves: Evidence from China," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 40(2), pages 517-552, June.
    14. Benedict Valentine Arulanandam & Christo Selvan & Goh Xin Tong, 2023. "Critical Factors Influencing Firms' Risk-Taking Behaviour: CEO Characteristics and the Moderating Role of the Audit Committee," Central European Business Review, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2023(5), pages 1-41.
    15. repec:osf:socarx:jd3c2_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Li, Xiaoyang & Low, Angie & Makhija, Anil K., 2017. "Career concerns and the busy life of the young CEO," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 88-109.
    17. Chia-Hsien Tang & Yen-Hsien Lee & Ming-Chih Lee & Ya-Ling Huang, 2020. "CEO Characteristics Enhancing the Impact of CEO Overconfidence on Firm Value After Mergers and Acquisitions — A Case Study in China," Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies (RPBFMP), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 23(01), pages 1-19, March.
    18. Zou, Ziran & Fu, Jiayi & Zeng, Yeqin & Huang, Yuxuan, 2024. "Do young CEOs matter for corporate digital transformation?," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 237(C).
    19. Zhang, Shanshan & Liu, Chang, 2020. "State ownership and the structuring of lease arrangements," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    20. Giovanni Ferri & Raffaele Lagravinese & Giuliano Resce, 2021. "Did the COVID-19 Shock Impair the Stock Performance of Companies with Older CEOs?," SERIES 02-2021, Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza - Università degli Studi di Bari "Aldo Moro", revised Jun 2021.
    21. Doukas, John A. & Zhang, Rongyao, 2020. "Corporate managerial ability, earnings smoothing, and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).

    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:gam:jadmsc:v:14:y:2024:i:11:p:304-:d:1523122. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.