Finance and Financial Management Commons^™

Three Essays On Ceo Traits, Corporate Investment Decisions, And Firm Value, Rongyao Zhang

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

More and more research has shown that the characteristics of top executives, especially CEOs, affect organizational decisions and behaviors. This dissertation primarily focuses on the role of executives’ managerial ability played in firm investment decisions, such as mergers and acquisitions (M&As) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) investment, and firm value.

Essay 1 examines whether high-ability managers’ earnings smoothing is motivated by the need to mitigate the adverse effects of heightened information asymmetry triggered by M&As on managers’ reputation capital and firm value. I document that acquirers with high-ability managers engage in more pre-acquisition earnings smoothing and experience more significant announcement …

Are Ceos To Blame For Corporate Failure? Evidence From Chapter 11 Filings, Rajib Chowdhury, John A. Doukas

Finance Faculty Publications

This study examines whether chief executive officers (CEOs) are to blame for corporate failures. Using alternative CEO managerial ability measures, we document that high-ability (low-ability) CEOs are less (more) likely to be associated with bankruptcy. We also find that reorganized firms run by high-ability incumbent CEOs experience improved financial performance after filing for Chapter 11. Firms that hire high-ability CEOs with bankruptcy experience also realize improved financial performance. Our evidence indicates that the likelihood of corporate bankruptcy is unrelated to the presence of high-ability managers and that bankruptcy does not adversely affect the post-bankruptcy careers of high-ability CEOs.

The Effects Of Ceo Dismissal Risk And Skills On Risky Corporate Decisions And Ceo Compensation, Son T. Dang

Theses and Dissertations in Business Administration

This dissertation consists of three distinct essays on the effects of CEO dismissal risk on M&A megadeal decisions, the association between CEO compensation and generalist managerial ability in the presence of CEO dismissal risk, and the alignment of the initial compensation of new CEOs following CEO dismissals with their managerial ability.

In Essay 1, I study the link between CEO dismissal risk and risky M&A decisions and find that higher-dismissal-risk CEOs engage in more M&A megadeals than their counterparts. Such megadeal transactions lead to lower acquirer post-M&A abnormal returns, suggesting that risky investment decisions are driven by CEOs’ career concerns. …

Three Essays On Ceo Risk Preferences, And Ability, Corporate Hedging Decisions, And Investor Sentiment, Sonik Mandal

Finance Theses & Dissertations

The derivative hedging research has looked at why firms and how firms hedge and if it increases value for their shareholders. In this dissertation we investigate the relation between CEO risk preferences and ability and whether if affects their hedging decisions and firm value.

In our first essay, we challenge the theory and previous empirical evidence that showed CEO risk preferences affects hedging. Using a sample of Fortune 500 firms and 5 years of panel data, and using inside debt (i.e., CEO pension and deferred compensation) and the CEO Vega and CEO Delta, as proxies of CEO risk preferences, we …