This paper investigates the effect of superstar CEOs on their competitors. Exploiting shocks to CEO status due to prestigious media awards, we document a significant positive stock market performance of competitors of superstar CEOs subsequent to the award. The effect is more pronounced for...

The aim of this paper is to explore the determinants of firm investment decision under the manager’s psychological characteristic. Previous research investigating the relationship between overconfidence and financial decisions has studied investment, financing decisions and firm values....

Purpose-The existence of optimism as a personal psychological characteristic of managers is a necessity in contemporary economy and decision making, although the phenomenon of over-optimism may lead to unfavourable outcomes. The purpose of this study is to examine the optimism bias and its...

Using hand-collected data on divisional managers at conglomerates, we find that a change in industry surplus in one division generates large spillovers on managerial payoffs in other divisions of the same firm. These spillovers arise only within the boundaries of a conglomerate but not between...

This paper deals with approving the effect of both a governance system and individual cognitive and emotional features in the financial analysis of a firms’ innovation decision. After discussing the theoretical linking between ownership concentration and the CEO’s attitude and behavior, we...

We examine the impact of managerial optimism on the inclusion of performance-pricing provisions in syndicated loan contracts (PSD). Optimistic managers may view PSD as a relatively cheap form of financing given their upwardly biased expectations about the firm's future cash flow. Indeed, we find...

The aim of this paper is to explore the determinants of firms’ financial policies according to the manager's psychological characteristics. More specifically, it examines the links between emotional intelligence, decision biases and the effectiveness of firms' financial policies. The article...

We show that measurable managerial characteristics have significant explanatory power for corporate financing decisions. First, managers who believe that their firm is undervalued view external financing as overpriced, especially equity. Such overconfident managers use less external finance and,...

This Article reports results of an empirical study that suggests that the current economic crisis has changed managerial behavior in the US in a way that may impede economic recovery. The study finds a strong, statistically significant and economically meaningful, positive correlation between...