CEO Narcissism and Earnings Management
28 Pages Posted: 18 Dec 2014 Last revised: 10 Feb 2015
Date Written: January 15, 2015
Abstract
This paper investigates the relation between CEO narcissism and a firm’s propensity to adopt earnings manipulation. There is growing evidence that narcissistic leaders over-identify themselves with the organizations they lead and expend considerable resources to achieve their goals, including engagements in unethical behaviour. We provide evidence that firms with more narcissistic CEOs are more likely to positively manage earnings. Our results highlight the importance of CEO personality to firms’ accounting decisions.
Keywords: Chief Executive Officer, Narcissism, Earnings Management, Management Personality
JEL Classification: G34, M41, M51
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation