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Engineer CEOs and Corporate Innovation

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  • Jialun Yang
  • Frank Y. Feng

Abstract

One-in-three CEOs of Chinese manufacturing firms are engineers. Firms led by CEOs with professional certifications in engineering, are associated with greater innovation quality, indicating that on-the-job training in engineering produces human capital which fosters innovation. In addition, firms with Engineer CEOs don’t spend more on R&D comparing to others, which argues against the “functionally biased perception theory†. The result is more pronounced when CEOs have senior-level professional certifications in engineering. Our main finding still holds when we apply an instrumental variable approach. Finally, we also show that Engineer CEOs have opposite impacts on innovation quality in high- and low-leverage firms.  JEL classification numbers: O32, M11, M00

Suggested Citation

  • Jialun Yang & Frank Y. Feng, 2020. "Engineer CEOs and Corporate Innovation," Journal of Applied Finance & Banking, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 10(6), pages 1-5.
    • Handle: RePEc:spt:apfiba:v:10:y:2020:i:6:f:10_6_5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Alderman, Jillian & Forsyth, Joetta & Griffy-Brown, Charla & Walton, Richard C., 2022. "The benefits of hiring a STEM CEO: Decision making under innovation and real options," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Engineer CEOs; Human Capital; Innovation.;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • O32 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Management of Technological Innovation and R&D
    • M11 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Production Management
    • M00 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - General - - - General

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