Managerial Attitudes and Corporate Actions

43 Pages Posted: 11 Jul 2009 Last revised: 28 May 2012

See all articles by John R. Graham

John R. Graham

Duke University; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Campbell R. Harvey

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

Manju Puri

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business; NBER

Date Written: May 22, 2012

Abstract

We administer psychometric tests to senior executives to obtain evidence on their underlying psychological traits and attitudes. We find U.S. CEOs differ significantly from non-U.S. CEOs in terms of their underlying attitudes. In addition, we find that CEOs are significantly more optimistic and risk-tolerant than the lay population. We provide evidence that CEO’s behavioral traits such as optimism and managerial risk-aversion are related to corporate financial policies. Further, we provide new empirical evidence that CEO traits such as risk aversion and time preference are related to their compensation.

Keywords: Managers, attitudes, personality traits, risk aversion, capital structure, debt, acquisitions, corporate policies, behavioral corporate finance

JEL Classification: G30, G32, G34

Suggested Citation

Graham, John Robert and Harvey, Campbell R. and Puri, Manju, Managerial Attitudes and Corporate Actions (May 22, 2012). Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1432641 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1432641

John Robert Graham

Duke University ( email )

Box 90120
Durham, NC 27708-0120
United States
919-660-7857 (Phone)
919-660-8030 (Fax)

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Campbell R. Harvey

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business ( email )

Box 90120
Durham, NC 27708-0120
United States
919-660-7768 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: http://www.duke.edu/~charvey

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

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Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Manju Puri (Contact Author)

Duke University - Fuqua School of Business ( email )

100 Fuqua Drive
Box 90120
Durham, NC 27708-0120
United States
919-660-7657 (Phone)

NBER

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

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