TY - JOUR
T1 - CEOs' early-life experiences and corporate policy
T2 - Evidence from China's great famine
AU - Zhang, Le
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2017/12
Y1 - 2017/12
N2 - We examine the style of famine CEOs (CEOs who experienced China's Great Famine) in their corporate policy. By exploiting the variation in famine intensity across provinces, we find that CEOs who experienced more intense famines during their childhood are more risk averse. They use less debt, hold more cash, and perform fewer takeovers. However, their takeovers perform better, and their stock returns are less volatile. Our findings support the view that early-life experience affects CEOs' risk preference.
AB - We examine the style of famine CEOs (CEOs who experienced China's Great Famine) in their corporate policy. By exploiting the variation in famine intensity across provinces, we find that CEOs who experienced more intense famines during their childhood are more risk averse. They use less debt, hold more cash, and perform fewer takeovers. However, their takeovers perform better, and their stock returns are less volatile. Our findings support the view that early-life experience affects CEOs' risk preference.
KW - China's Great Famine
KW - Corporate policy
KW - Managerial style
KW - Risk preference
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85028912901&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.pacfin.2017.08.004
DO - 10.1016/j.pacfin.2017.08.004
M3 - Article
SN - 0927-538X
VL - 46
SP - 57
EP - 77
JO - Pacific Basin Finance Journal
JF - Pacific Basin Finance Journal
ER -