Military CEOs / Efraim Benmelech, Carola Frydman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Benmelech, Efraim.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

Frydman, Carola.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w19782.

NBER working paper series no. w19782

Language:

English

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 2014.

Summary:

There is mounting evidence of the influence of personal characteristics of CEOs on corporate outcomes. In this paper we analyze the relation between military service of CEOs and managerial decisions, financial policies, and corporate outcomes. Exploiting exogenous variation in the propensity to serve in the military, we show that military service is associated with conservative corporate policies and ethical behavior. Military CEOs pursue lower corporate investment, are less likely to be involved in corporate fraudulent activity, and perform better during industry downturns. Taken together, our results show that military service has significant explanatory power for managerial decisions and firm outcomes.

Notes:

Print version record

January 2014.