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Which CEO Characteristics and Abilities Matter?

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  • Steven N. Kaplan
  • Mark M. Klebanov
  • Morten Sorensen

Abstract

We study the characteristics and abilities of CEO candidates for companies involved in buyout (LBO) and venture capital (VC) transactions and relate them to hiring decisions, investment decisions, and company performance. Candidates are assessed on more than thirty individual abilities. The abilities are highly correlated; a factor analysis suggests there are two primary factors with intuitive characterizations -- one for general ability and one that contrasts team-related, interpersonal skills with execution skills. Both LBO and VC firms are more likely to hire and invest in CEOs with greater general abilities, both execution- and team-related. Success, however, is more strongly related to execution skills than to team-related skills. Success is, at best, only marginally related to incumbency, holding observable talent and ability constant.

Suggested Citation

  • Steven N. Kaplan & Mark M. Klebanov & Morten Sorensen, 2008. "Which CEO Characteristics and Abilities Matter?," NBER Working Papers 14195, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:14195
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    Cited by:

    1. Edward P. Lazear & Kathryn L. Shaw & Christopher T. Stanton, 2015. "The Value of Bosses," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 33(4), pages 823-861.
    2. Oyer, Paul & Schaefer, Scott, 2011. "Personnel Economics: Hiring and Incentives," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 4, chapter 20, pages 1769-1823, Elsevier.
    3. Chad Syverson, 2011. "What Determines Productivity?," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 49(2), pages 326-365, June.
    4. Jennifer M. Walske & Andrew Zacharakis, 2009. "Genetically Engineered: Why Some Venture Capital Firms are more Successful than Others," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 33(1), pages 297-318, January.
    5. Gallego, Francisco & Larrain, Borja, 2012. "CEO compensation and large shareholders: Evidence from emerging markets," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(4), pages 621-642.
    6. Francisco Gallego & Borja Larraín, 2010. "CEO Compensation among Firms Controlled by Large Shareholders: Evidence from Emerging Markets," Documentos de Trabajo 379, Instituto de Economia. Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile..
    7. 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.
    8. Rojana Khunkaew & Yang Qingxiang, 2019. "The Characteristics Of Top Managment And Firm’S Earnings Management: The Evidence Form Thailand," Copernican Journal of Finance & Accounting, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 8(3), pages 49-74.
    9. Prachi Mishra & Ariell Reshef, 2019. "How Do Central Bank Governors Matter? Regulation and the Financial Sector," Journal of Money, Credit and Banking, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 51(2-3), pages 369-402, March.
    10. Anna A. Levine Taub & Anton Kolotilin & Robert S. Gibbons & Ernst R. Berndt, 2011. "The Diversity of Concentrated Prescribing Behavior: An Application to Antipsychotics," NBER Working Papers 16823, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    11. Giovanni Immordino & Anna Maria C. Menichini & Maria Grazia Romano, 2012. "Optimal Compensation Contracts for Optimistic Managers," Working Papers 3_224, Dipartimento di Scienze Economiche e Statistiche, Università degli Studi di Salerno.
    12. Claudio Detotto & Dimitri Paolini & J. D. Tena, 2018. "Do managerial skills matter? An analysis of the impact of managerial features on performance for Italian football," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 69(2), pages 270-282, February.
    13. Goodall, Amanda H. & Kahn, Lawrence M. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2011. "Why do leaders matter? A study of expert knowledge in a superstar setting," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 77(3), pages 265-284, March.
    14. Antoinette Schoar & Luo Zuo, 2011. "Shaped by Booms and Busts: How the Economy Impacts CEO Careers and Management Styles," NBER Working Papers 17590, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    15. Berndt, Ernst R. & Gibbons, Robert S. & Kolotilin, Anton & Taub, Anna Levine, 2015. "The heterogeneity of concentrated prescribing behavior: Theory and evidence from antipsychotics," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 26-39.
    16. Scott E. Yonker, 2017. "Do Managers Give Hometown Labor an Edge?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(10), pages 3581-3604.
    17. Yujing Gong & Cheng Yan & Kung‐Cheng Ho, 2021. "The effect of managerial ability on corporate social responsibility and firm value in the energy industry," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 581-594, March.
    18. Timothy Besley & Jose G. Montalvo & Marta Reynal‐Querol, 2011. "Do Educated Leaders Matter?," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 121(554), pages 205-205, August.
    19. Loureiro, Gilberto & Makhija, Anil K. & Zhang, Dan, 2011. "Why Do Some CEOs Work for a One-Dollary Salary?," Working Paper Series 2011-7, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D21 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Theory
    • D23 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Organizational Behavior; Transaction Costs; Property Rights
    • G24 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Investment Banking; Venture Capital; Brokerage
    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance

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