IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/respol/v52y2023i9s0048733323001361.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Individualistic CEO and corporate innovation: Evidence from U.S. frontier culture

Author

Listed:
  • Gao, Lei
  • Han, Jianlei
  • Pan, Zheyao
  • Zhang, Huixuan

Abstract

We study the relationship between a CEO's individualistic cultural background and corporate innovation. Using hand-collected data on the birthplaces of U.S.-born CEOs, we present robust evidence demonstrating that CEOs born in frontier counties with a higher level of individualistic culture are associated with superior corporate innovation outcomes. Firms led by these CEOs exhibit higher levels of both quantity and quality in their innovation output, placing a greater emphasis on breakthrough innovation compared to firms led by CEOs born elsewhere. Furthermore, our findings are consistent with the notion that individualistic CEOs cultivate an innovation-oriented corporate culture and enhance human capital by attracting a greater inflow of inventors, thereby promoting corporate innovation.

Suggested Citation

  • Gao, Lei & Han, Jianlei & Pan, Zheyao & Zhang, Huixuan, 2023. "Individualistic CEO and corporate innovation: Evidence from U.S. frontier culture," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(9).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:52:y:2023:i:9:s0048733323001361
    DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2023.104852
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048733323001361
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.respol.2023.104852?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Eisfeldt, Andrea L. & Kuhnen, Camelia M., 2013. "CEO turnover in a competitive assignment framework," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 109(2), pages 351-372.
    2. Andrea Ichino & Giovanni Maggi, 2000. "Work Environment and Individual Background: Explaining Regional Shirking Differentials in a Large Italian Firm," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 115(3), pages 1057-1090.
    3. Archibugi, Daniele & Filippetti, Andrea & Frenz, Marion, 2013. "Economic crisis and innovation: Is destruction prevailing over accumulation?," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(2), pages 303-314.
    4. Nemlioglu, Ilayda & Mallick, Sushanta K., 2020. "Do innovation-intensive firms mitigate their valuation uncertainty during bad times?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 177(C), pages 913-940.
    5. Cohn, Jonathan B. & Liu, Zack & Wardlaw, Malcolm I., 2022. "Count (and count-like) data in finance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 146(2), pages 529-551.
    6. Bronwyn H. Hall & Adam Jaffe & Manuel Trajtenberg, 2005. "Market Value and Patent Citations," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 36(1), pages 16-38, Spring.
    7. Sandra Sequeira & Nathan Nunn & Nancy Qian, 2020. "Immigrants and the Making of America," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 87(1), pages 382-419.
    8. Vincent L. Barker , III & George C. Mueller, 2002. "CEO Characteristics and Firm R&D Spending," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 48(6), pages 782-801, June.
    9. David Hirshleifer & Angie Low & Siew Hong Teoh, 2012. "Are Overconfident CEOs Better Innovators?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 67(4), pages 1457-1498, August.
    10. Marianne Bertrand & Antoinette Schoar, 2003. "Managing with Style: The Effect of Managers on Firm Policies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1169-1208.
    11. C. Edward Fee & Charles J. Hadlock & Joshua R. Pierce, 2013. "Managers with and without Style: Evidence Using Exogenous Variation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(3), pages 567-601.
    12. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1997. "Industry costs of equity," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2), pages 153-193, February.
    13. Gao, Huasheng & Hsu, Po-Hsuan & Li, Kai, 2018. "Innovation Strategy of Private Firms," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(1), pages 1-32, February.
    14. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Gerard Roland, 2017. "Culture, Institutions, and the Wealth of Nations," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 99(3), pages 402-416, July.
    15. Leonid Kogan & Dimitris Papanikolaou & Amit Seru & Noah Stoffman, 2017. "Technological Innovation, Resource Allocation, and Growth," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 132(2), pages 665-712.
    16. Hilary, Gilles & Hui, Kai Wai, 2009. "Does religion matter in corporate decision making in America?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(3), pages 455-473, September.
    17. Tiessen, James H., 1997. "Individualism, collectivism, and entrepreneurship: A framework for international comparative research," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 12(5), pages 367-384, September.
    18. Lim, Ivan & Nguyen, Duc Duy, 2021. "Hometown Lending," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 56(8), pages 2894-2933, December.
    19. Thomas J. Chemmanur & Elena Loutskina & Xuan Tian, 2014. "Corporate Venture Capital, Value Creation, and Innovation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(8), pages 2434-2473.
    20. Ajay Bhaskarabhatla & Luis Cabral & Deepak Hegde & Thomas Peeters, 2021. "Are Inventors or Firms the Engines of Innovation?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(6), pages 3899-3920, June.
    21. Xuan Tian & Tracy Yue Wang, 2014. "Tolerance for Failure and Corporate Innovation," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 27(1), pages 211-255, January.
    22. Li, Guan-Cheng & Lai, Ronald & D’Amour, Alexander & Doolin, David M. & Sun, Ye & Torvik, Vetle I. & Yu, Amy Z. & Fleming, Lee, 2014. "Disambiguation and co-authorship networks of the U.S. patent inventor database (1975–2010)," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 43(6), pages 941-955.
    23. Chemmanur, Thomas J. & Kong, Lei & Krishnan, Karthik & Yu, Qianqian, 2019. "Top Management Human Capital, Inventor Mobility, and Corporate Innovation," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(6), pages 2383-2422, December.
    24. Bryan Leonard & Steven M. Smith, 2021. "Individualistic culture increases economic mobility in the United States," Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, vol. 118(37), pages 2107273118-, September.
    25. Richard J. Gentry & Joseph S. Harrison & Timothy J. Quigley & Steven Boivie, 2021. "A database of CEO turnover and dismissal in S&P 1500 firms, 2000–2018," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5), pages 968-991, May.
    26. Jie (Jack) He & Xuan Tian, 2020. "Institutions and Innovation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 12(1), pages 377-398, December.
    27. Sunder, Jayanthi & Sunder, Shyam V. & Zhang, Jingjing, 2017. "Pilot CEOs and corporate innovation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 209-224.
    28. Nemlioglu, Ilayda & Mallick, Sushanta, 2021. "Effective innovation via better management of firms: The role of leverage in times of crisis," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(7).
    29. Hoang-Anh Ho & Peter Martinsson & Ola Olsson, 2022. "The origins of cultural divergence: evidence from Vietnam," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 27(1), pages 45-89, March.
    30. DeBacker, Jason & Heim, Bradley T. & Tran, Anh, 2015. "Importing corruption culture from overseas: Evidence from corporate tax evasion in the United States," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 122-138.
    31. Shane, Scott A., 1992. "Why do some societies invent more than others?," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 29-46, January.
    32. John M. Barrios & Yael Hochberg & Daniele Macciocchi, 2021. "Rugged Entrepreneurs: The Geographic and Cultural Contours of New Business Formation," NBER Working Papers 28606, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    33. Lai, Shaojie & Yang, Laifeng & Wang, Qing & Anderson, Hamish D., 2023. "Judicial independence and corporate innovation: Evidence from the establishment of circuit courts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    34. Ran Duchin & Mikhail Simutin & Denis Sosyura, 2021. "The Origins and Real Effects of the Gender Gap: Evidence from CEOs’ Formative Years [Women on boards: The superheroes of tomorrow?]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(2), pages 700-762.
    35. Michael H Morris & Duane L Davis & Jeffrey W Allen, 1994. "Fostering Corporate Entrepreneurship: Cross-Cultural Comparisons of the Importance of Individualism Versus Collectivism," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 25(1), pages 65-89, March.
    36. Bo Bian & Jingjing Li & Ting Xu & Natasha Z. Foutz, 2022. "Individualism during Crises," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(2), pages 368-385, May.
    37. Paola Giuliano & Nathan Nunn, 2021. "Understanding Cultural Persistence and Change [Cultural Assimilation During the Age of Mass Migration]," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 88(4), pages 1541-1581.
    38. Seong K. Byun & Jong-Min & Han Xia, 2021. "Incremental vs. Breakthrough Innovation: The Role of Technology Spillovers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(3), pages 1779-1802, March.
    39. Kai Li & Feng Mai & Rui Shen & Xinyan Yan, 2021. "Measuring Corporate Culture Using Machine Learning," NBER Chapters, in: Big Data: Long-Term Implications for Financial Markets and Firms, pages 3265-3315, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    40. Cline, Brandon N. & Yore, Adam S., 2016. "Silverback CEOs: Age, experience, and firm value," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 169-188.
    41. Capponi, Giovanna & Martinelli, Arianna & Nuvolari, Alessandro, 2022. "Breakthrough innovations and where to find them," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(1).
    42. Ahern, Kenneth R. & Daminelli, Daniele & Fracassi, Cesare, 2015. "Lost in translation? The effect of cultural values on mergers around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 165-189.
    43. Boubakri, Narjess & Chkir, Imed & Saadi, Samir & Zhu, Hui, 2021. "Does national culture affect corporate innovation? International evidence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    44. Kai Li & Feng Mai & Rui Shen & Xinyan Yan, 2021. "Measuring Corporate Culture Using Machine Learning [Machine learning methods that economists should know about]," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 34(7), pages 3265-3315.
    45. Alberto Galasso & Timothy S. Simcoe, 2011. "CEO Overconfidence and Innovation," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 57(8), pages 1469-1484, August.
    46. Taylor, Mark Zachary & Wilson, Sean, 2012. "Does culture still matter?: The effects of individualism on national innovation rates," Journal of Business Venturing, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 234-247.
    47. Sun, Zhen & Wright, Brian D., 2022. "Citations backward and forward: Insights into the patent examiner's role," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(7).
    48. Ilayda Nemlioglu & Sushanta K. Mallick, 2017. "Do Managerial Practices Matter in Innovation and Firm Performance Relations? New Evidence from the UK," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 23(5), pages 1016-1061, October.
    49. Duc Duy Nguyen & Jens Hagendorff & Arman Eshraghi, 2018. "Does a CEO’s Cultural Heritage Affect Performance under Competitive Pressure?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(1), pages 97-141.
    50. Chen, Yangyang & Podolski, Edward J. & Rhee, S. Ghon & Veeraraghavan, Madhu, 2014. "Local Gambling Preferences and Corporate Innovative Success," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(1), pages 77-106, February.
    51. Mao, Connie X. & Zhang, Chi, 2018. "Managerial Risk-Taking Incentive and Firm Innovation: Evidence from FAS 123R," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(2), pages 867-898, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Bhattacharya, Debarati & Cheng, Tzu-Chang Forrest & Chuang, Meng-Ju & Li, Wei-Hsien & Wang, Zi-Peng, 2024. "Terrorism-Induced Trauma and Corporate Innovation," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    2. Chiu, Ya-Ling & Luo, Jinbo & Boscaljon, Brian L., 2024. "The Mist of corporate innovation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 93(PB), pages 602-624.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qing Wan & Xiaoke Cheng & Kam C. Chan & Shenghao Gao, 2021. "Born to innovate? The birth‐order effect of CEOs on corporate innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 1846-1888, October.
    2. Liu, Guanchun & Lu, Di & Yang, Jinyu, 2023. "Innovation for promotion: The effect of executive involvement on inventors' innovation choice," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Christopher Kurzhals & Lorenz Graf‐Vlachy & Andreas König, 2020. "Strategic leadership and technological innovation: A comprehensive review and research agenda," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 437-464, November.
    4. Ucar, Erdem, 2018. "Local creative culture and corporate innovation," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 60-70.
    5. Adhikari, Binay Kumar & Agrawal, Anup, 2016. "Religion, gambling attitudes and corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C), pages 229-248.
    6. Islam, Emdad & Zein, Jason, 2020. "Inventor CEOs," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 135(2), pages 505-527.
    7. Linh Thompson, 2024. "Employee health and corporate innovation: Evidence from medical cannabis legalisation," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 64(4), pages 3927-3950, December.
    8. Cláudia Custódio & Miguel A. Ferreira & Pedro Matos, 2019. "Do General Managerial Skills Spur Innovation?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(2), pages 459-476, February.
    9. Wu, Qiang & Dbouk, Wassim & Hasan, Iftekhar & Kobeissi, Nada & Zheng, Li, 2021. "Does gender affect innovation? Evidence from female chief technology officers," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 50(9).
    10. Byun, SeongK. & Fuller, Kathleen & Lin, Zhilu, 2021. "The costs and benefits associated with inventor CEOs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    11. Seong K. Byun & Jong-Min & Han Xia, 2021. "Incremental vs. Breakthrough Innovation: The Role of Technology Spillovers," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 67(3), pages 1779-1802, March.
    12. Li, Kailun & Xia, Yifei & Zhang, Jianing, 2023. "CEOs’ multicultural backgrounds and firm innovation: Evidence from China," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 57(C).
    13. Zhao, Qifeng & Li, Zhen & Yu, Yihua, 2021. "Does top management quality promote innovation? Firm-level evidence from China," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    14. Li, Guoxing & Yeh, Yin-Hua, 2023. "Western cultural influence on corporate innovation: Evidence from Chinese listed companies," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 55(C).
    15. Gao, Lei & Jiang, Christine X. & Mekhaimer, Mohamed, 2023. "Count on subordinate executives: Internal governance and innovation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    16. Pascal Gantenbein & Axel Kind & Christophe Volonté, 2019. "Individualism and Venture Capital: A Cross-Country Study," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 741-777, October.
    17. Yang, Huan, 2021. "Institutional dual holdings and risk-shifting: Evidence from corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    18. Luo, Yue & Chen, Yangyang & Lin, Ji-Chai, 2022. "Does air quality affect inventor productivity? Evidence from the NOx budget program," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    19. Huang, Yi-Hou & Liang, Woan-lih & Truong, Quang-Thai & Wang, Yanzhi, 2022. "No new tricks for old dogs? Old directors and innovation performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 179(C).
    20. Dimitrios Gounopoulos & Georgios Loukopoulos & Panagiotis Loukopoulos, 2021. "CEO education and the ability to raise capital," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 67-99, January.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Innovation; Culture; Individualism; Frontier history; Human capital;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • O31 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Innovation and Invention: Processes and Incentives
    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • M14 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Corporate Culture; Diversity; Social Responsibility
    • N9 - Economic History - - Regional and Urban History

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:respol:v:52:y:2023:i:9:s0048733323001361. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/respol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.