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Corporate risk and the humpback of CEO narcissism

Author

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  • Tom Aabo
  • Nicklas Bang Eriksen

Abstract

Purpose - The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between CEO narcissism and corporate risk taking. Design/methodology/approach - The authors provide a novel and unobtrusive measure of CEO narcissism based on LinkedIn profiling. The authors investigate the relationship between CEO narcissism and corporate risk taking (stock return volatility) for a sample of 475 US manufacturing firms in the period 2010-2014. Findings - The authors find an inverse U-shape relationship between CEO narcissism and stock return volatility. The inverse U-shape relationship (the “humpback”) is caused by the paradoxical nature of the narcissistic personality in which the self-esteem is high but at the same time fragile with a combination of self-admiration and a constant need of having this positive self-view confirmed. The results are robust to alternative specifications of CEO narcissism and corporate risk taking. The results are economically meaningful. Thus, a moderate degree of CEO narcissism – as compared to a very low or a very high level of CEO narcissism – is associated with an increase in corporate risk taking of approximately 12 percent. Originality/value - Previous literature provides multiple analyses on the association between managerial overconfidence and corporate decisions. As opposed to overconfidence, narcissism is a personality trait having both cognitive and behavioral dimensions. This paper provides a novel contribution to the growing literature on the association between managerial biases/traits and corporate decision-making.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom Aabo & Nicklas Bang Eriksen, 2018. "Corporate risk and the humpback of CEO narcissism," Review of Behavioral Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 10(3), pages 252-273, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:eme:rbfpps:rbf-07-2017-0070
    DOI: 10.1108/RBF-07-2017-0070
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Aabo, Tom & Hanousek, Jan & Pantzalis, Christos & Park, Jung Chul, 2023. "CEO personality traits and corporate value implication of acquisitions," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 86-106.
    2. Heba F. Zaher & Gilberto Marquez‐Illescas, 2024. "CEO narcissism and firm's cash conversion cycle: The moderating role of CEO's gender," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 64(1), pages 783-810, March.
    3. Zixia Cao & Kehan Xu, 2022. "CEO narcissism, brand acquisition and disposal, and stock returns," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 50(4), pages 777-799, July.
    4. Byun, Kyung-Ah (Kay) & Al-Shammari, Marwan, 2021. "When narcissistic CEOs meet power: Effects of CEO narcissism and power on the likelihood of product recalls in consumer-packaged goods," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 45-60.

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