Shaped by Booms and Busts: How the Economy Impacts CEO Careers and Management Styles
We show that economic conditions when managers enter the labor market have long-run effects on their career paths and managerial styles. Managers who began their careers during recessions become CEOs more quickly, but at smaller firms. They also have more conservative styles, such as lower investment in capital expenditures and research and development, more cost cutting, and lower leverage and working capital needs. These recession effects appear to be largely driven by the characteristics of the CEO’s first job (recession CEOs tend to start in smaller or private firms), which suggests that the early work environment is important to the formation and selection of managers.
Non-Technical Summaries
- CEOs who begin their careers during recessions ... end up heading smaller firms [and] receiving lower compensation. In Shaped by...
Published Versions
The Review of Financial Studies, Volume 30, Issue 5, 1 May 2017, Pages 1425–1456