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The demand for executive skills

Author

Listed:
  • Fuller, Joe
  • Hansen, Stephen
  • Ramdas, Tejas
  • Sadun, Raffaella

Abstract

We use a unique corpus of job descriptions for C-suite positions to document skills requirements in top managerial occupations across a large sample of firms. A novel algorithm maps the text of each executive search into six separate skill clusters reflecting cognitive, interpersonal, and operational dimensions. The data show an increasing relevance of social skills in top managerial occupations, and a greater emphasis on social skills in larger and more information intensive organizations. The results suggest the need for training, search and governance mechanisms able to facilitate the match between firms and top executives along multiple and imperfectly observable skills.

Suggested Citation

  • Fuller, Joe & Hansen, Stephen & Ramdas, Tejas & Sadun, Raffaella, 2021. "The demand for executive skills," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 113871, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    • Handle: RePEc:ehl:lserod:113871
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    File URL: http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/113871/
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Cnossen, Femke & Piracha, Matloob & Tchuente, Guy, 2021. "Learning the Right Skill: The Returns to Social, Technical and Basic Skills for Middle-Educated Graduates," GLO Discussion Paper Series 979, Global Labor Organization (GLO).
    2. Greta Morando & Lucinda Platt, 2022. "The Impact of Centre‐based Childcare on Non‐cognitive Skills of Young Children," Economica, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 89(356), pages 908-946, October.
    3. Christina Langer & Simon Wiederhold, 2023. "The Value of Early-Career Skills," CESifo Working Paper Series 10288, CESifo.
    4. Nicolai J. Foss & Peter G. Klein, 2023. "Why managers still matter as applied organization (design) theory," Journal of Organization Design, Springer;Organizational Design Community, vol. 12(1), pages 7-18, June.
    5. Chaturvedi, Sugat & Mahajan, Kanika & Siddique, Zahra, 2023. "Using Domain-Specific Word Embeddings to Examine the Demand for Skills," IZA Discussion Papers 16593, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    6. Audinga Baltrunaite & Sara Formai & Andrea Linarello & Sauro Mocetti, 2022. "Ownership, Governance, Management and Firm Performance: Evidence from Italian Firms," Questioni di Economia e Finanza (Occasional Papers) 678, Bank of Italy, Economic Research and International Relations Area.
    7. Seegmiller, Bryan & Papanikolaou, Dimitris & Schmidt, Lawrence D.W., 2023. "Measuring document similarity with weighted averages of word embeddings," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 87(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    job descriptions; skills requirements; C-suite positions;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • R14 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - General Regional Economics - - - Land Use Patterns
    • J01 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - General - - - Labor Economics: General
    • J50 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - General

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