IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/crm/wpaper/2530.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Value-Based Leadership

Author

Listed:
  • Morten Bennedsen

    (University of Copenhagen)

  • Esther Chevrot-Bianco

    (Goethe University Frankfurt)

  • Guido Friebel

    (Goethe University Frankfurt,)

  • Maria Schlier

    (University of Copenhagen)

Abstract

We measure value-based leadership (VBL) – the strength of personal values and to what extent they penetrate firms’ organization – in a survey of 1,500 Danish CEOs. First, VBL is more common in family firms and women CEOs. It is not correlated with the CEO’s IQ or management practices. Second, VBL correlates with firm performance; CEO turnover and hospitalizations establish the causality of this link. Third, firm policies are different: (i) during the pandemic, VBL firms have lower employee turnover; (ii) in normal times, they have flatter organizational structures. Fourth, factor analysis confirms robustness of the findings. Other factors derived from a deep survey on CEO characteristics and opinions do very little to explain firm outcomes. We conclude that value-based leadership contributes in explaining the value added of CEOs for firms.

Suggested Citation

  • Morten Bennedsen & Esther Chevrot-Bianco & Guido Friebel & Maria Schlier, 2025. "Value-Based Leadership," RFBerlin Discussion Paper Series 2530, Rockwool Foundation Berlin (RF Berlin).
    • Handle: RePEc:crm:wpaper:2530
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.rfberlin.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/25030.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Guido Friebel & Matthias Heinz & Nikolay Zubanov, 2022. "Middle Managers, Personnel Turnover, and Performance: A Long‐Term Field Experiment in a Retail Chain," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(1), pages 211-229, January.
    2. Philippe Aghion & Nick Bloom & Richard Blundell & Rachel Griffith & Peter Howitt, 2005. "Competition and Innovation: an Inverted-U Relationship," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 120(2), pages 701-728.
    3. Oriana Bandiera & Andrea Prat & Stephen Hansen & Raffaella Sadun, 2020. "CEO Behavior and Firm Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(4), pages 1325-1369.
    4. David Sraer & David Thesmar, 2007. "Performance and Behavior of Family Firms: Evidence from the French Stock Market," Journal of the European Economic Association, MIT Press, vol. 5(4), pages 709-751, June.
    5. Xavier Gabaix & Augustin Landier, 2008. "Why has CEO Pay Increased So Much?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(1), pages 49-100.
    6. Rotemberg, Julio J & Saloner, Garth, 1994. "Benefits of Narrow Business Strategies," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 84(5), pages 1330-1349, December.
    7. Malmendier, Ulrike & Tate, Geoffrey, 2008. "Who makes acquisitions? CEO overconfidence and the market's reaction," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 20-43, July.
    8. Kelly Shue, 2013. "Executive Networks and Firm Policies: Evidence from the Random Assignment of MBA Peers," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(6), pages 1401-1442.
    9. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2008. "Trusting the Stock Market," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 2557-2600, December.
    10. Nickell, Stephen J, 1996. "Competition and Corporate Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(4), pages 724-746, August.
    11. Nicholas Bloom & John Van Reenen, 2007. "Measuring and Explaining Management Practices Across Firms and Countries," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(4), pages 1351-1408.
    12. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    13. Francis Kramarz & David Thesmar, 2013. "Social Networks In The Boardroom," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 780-807, August.
    14. Mitchell Hoffman & Steven Tadelis, 2021. "People Management Skills, Employee Attrition, and Manager Rewards: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 129(1), pages 243-285.
    15. Guiso, Luigi & Sapienza, Paola & Zingales, Luigi, 2015. "The value of corporate culture," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 60-76.
    16. Alexia Delfino & Miguel Espinosa, 2025. "Value Dissonance at Work," CESifo Working Paper Series 11690, CESifo.
    17. Amore, Mario Daniele & Bennedsen, Morten, 2013. "The value of local political connections in a low-corruption environment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 110(2), pages 387-402.
    18. Hermalin, Benjamin E, 1998. "Toward an Economic Theory of Leadership: Leading by Example," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 88(5), pages 1188-1206, December.
    19. John M. Abowd & Francis Kramarz & David N. Margolis, 1999. "High Wage Workers and High Wage Firms," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 67(2), pages 251-334, March.
    20. Guiso, Luigi & Sapienza, Paola & Zingales, Luigi, 2018. "Time varying risk aversion," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(3), pages 403-421.
    21. Francis Kramarz & David Thesmar, 2013. "Social Networks In The Boardroom," Journal of the European Economic Association, European Economic Association, vol. 11(4), pages 780-807, August.
    22. Antoinette Schoar & Luo Zuo, 2016. "Does the Market Value CEO Styles?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(5), pages 262-266, May.
    23. Julio Rotemberg & Garth Saloner, 2000. "Visionaries, Managers, and Strategic Direction," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 31(4), pages 693-716, Winter.
    24. 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.
    25. John R. Graham & Si Li & Jiaping Qiu, 2012. "Managerial Attributes and Executive Compensation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 25(1), pages 144-186.
    26. 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.
    27. C. Edward Fee & Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2013. "Managers with and without Style: Evidence Using Exogenous Variation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(3), pages 567-601.
    28. Nicholas Bloom & Erik Brynjolfsson & Lucia Foster & Ron Jarmin & Megha Patnaik & Itay Saporta-Eksten & John Van Reenen, 2019. "What Drives Differences in Management Practices?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 109(5), pages 1648-1683, May.
    29. Markus K. Brunnermeier & Laura Veldkamp, 2013. "Leadership, Coordination, and Corporate Culture," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 80(2), pages 512-537.
    30. Lilach Sagiv & Sonia Roccas & Jan Cieciuch & Shalom H. Schwartz, 2017. "Personal values in human life," Nature Human Behaviour, Nature, vol. 1(9), pages 630-639, September.
    31. Marianne Bertrand & Antoinette Schoar, 2006. "The Role of Family in Family Firms," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 73-96, Spring.
    32. Jacob Mincer, 1958. "Investment in Human Capital and Personal Income Distribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 66(4), pages 281-281.
    33. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:3:p:1301-1327 is not listed on IDEAS
    34. Antoinette Schoar & Luo Zuo, 2017. "Shaped by Booms and Busts: How the Economy Impacts CEO Careers and Management Styles," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(5), pages 1425-1456.
    35. Bennedsen, Morten & Larsen, Birthe & Schmutte, Ian M. & Scur, Daniela, 2023. "The effect of preserving job matches during a crisis," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    36. 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.
    37. Wouter Dessein & Tano Santos, 2021. "Managerial Style and Attention," American Economic Journal: Microeconomics, American Economic Association, vol. 13(3), pages 372-403, August.
    38. Julio J. Rotemberg & Garth Saloner, 1993. "Leadership Style and Incentives," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 39(11), pages 1299-1318, November.
    39. Ronald C. Anderson & David M. Reeb, 2003. "Founding‐Family Ownership and Firm Performance: Evidence from the S&P 500," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1301-1328, June.
    40. 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.
    41. 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.
    42. Hermalin, Benjamin E., 2007. "Leading for the long term," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 62(1), pages 1-19, January.
    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. Jenter, Dirk & Cziraki, Peter, 2021. "The Market for CEOs," CEPR Discussion Papers 16281, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    2. Baltrunaite, Audinga & Bovini, Giulia & Mocetti, Sauro, 2023. "Managerial talent and managerial practices: Are they complements?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    3. Antoinette Schoar & Kelvin Yeung & Luo Zuo, 2020. "The Effect of Managers on Systematic Risk," NBER Working Papers 27487, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Coraggio, Luca & Pagano, Marco & Scognamiglio, Annalisa & Tåg, Joacim, 2025. "JAQ of all trades: Job mismatch, firm productivity and managerial quality," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    5. William Mullins & Antoinette Schoar, 2013. "How do CEOs see their Role? Management Philosophy and Styles in Family and Non-Family Firms," NBER Working Papers 19395, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    6. Kerstin Lopatta & Thomas Kaspereit & Sebastian A. Tideman & Anna R. Rudolf, 2022. "The moderating role of CEO sustainability reporting style in the relationship between sustainability performance, sustainability reporting, and cost of equity," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 92(3), pages 429-465, April.
    7. Uchida, Hirofumi & Yamada, Kazuo & Zazzaro, Alberto, 2023. "Management innovations in family firms after CEO successions: Evidence from Japanese SMEs," Japan and the World Economy, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    8. Mitchell Hoffman & Christopher T. Stanton, 2024. "People, Practices, and Productivity: A Review of New Advances in Personnel Economics," NBER Working Papers 32849, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Mario Daniele Amore & Morten Bennedsen & Isabelle Le Breton‐Miller & Danny Miller, 2021. "Back to the future: The effect of returning family successions on firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(8), pages 1432-1458, August.
    10. Li, Si & Perez, M. Fabricio, 2021. "The evolution of pay premiums for managerial attributes," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    11. Adams, Renée & Keloharju, Matti & Knüpfer, Samuli, 2018. "Are CEOs born leaders? Lessons from traits of a million individuals," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(2), pages 392-408.
    12. Claudia Custodio & Diogo Mendes & Daniel Metzger, 2021. "The impact of financial education of executives on financial practices of medium and large enterprises," NOVAFRICA Working Paper Series wp2105, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Nova School of Business and Economics, NOVAFRICA.
    13. Scur, Daniela & Lemos, Renata, 2019. "The ties that bind: implicit contracts and management practices in family-run firms," CEPR Discussion Papers 13794, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    14. Oriana Bandiera & Andrea Prat & Stephen Hansen & Raffaella Sadun, 2020. "CEO Behavior and Firm Performance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 128(4), pages 1325-1369.
    15. Laurent Bach & Nicolas Serrano-Velarde, 2009. "The Power of Dynastic Commitment," Working Papers 0924, Oxford University Centre for Business Taxation.
    16. King, Timothy & Srivastav, Abhishek & Williams, Jonathan, 2016. "What's in an education? Implications of CEO education for bank performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 287-308.
    17. 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.
    18. Andrea Bassanini & Thomas Breda & Eve Caroli & Antoine Rebérioux, 2010. "Working in family firms: less paid but more secure? Evidence from French matched employer-employee data," Working Papers halshs-00564972, HAL.
    19. Cavaco, Sandra & Crifo, Patricia & Rebérioux, Antoine & Roudaut, Gwenael, 2017. "Independent directors: Less informed but better selected than affiliated board members?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 106-121.
    20. Oriana Bandiera & Luigi Guiso & Andrea Prat & Raffaella Sadun, 2015. "Matching Firms, Managers, and Incentives," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(3), pages 623-681.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:crm:wpaper:2530. 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: Moritz Lubczyk or Matthew Nibloe (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/cmucluk.html .

    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.