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Status, Marriage, and Managers' Attitudes To Risk

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  • Nikolai Roussanov
  • Pavel G. Savor

Abstract

Status concerns can drive risk-taking behavior by affecting the payoff to a marginal dollar of wealth. If status concerns arise endogenously due to competition in the marriage market, then unmarried individuals should take greater risks. We test this hypothesis by studying corporate CEOs. We find that single CEOs are associated with firms exhibiting higher stock return volatility, pursue more aggressive investment policies, and are not affected by increases in idiosyncratic risk. These effects are weaker for older CEOs. Our results also hold when we use variation in divorce laws across states to instrument for CEO marital status.

Suggested Citation

  • Nikolai Roussanov & Pavel G. Savor, 2012. "Status, Marriage, and Managers' Attitudes To Risk," NBER Working Papers 17904, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:17904
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    Cited by:

    1. Weida Kuang & Chunlin Liu & Qun Wu & Hongchao Zeng, 2021. "How do Interest Rate Changes Affect Mortgage Curtailments? Evidence from China," Real Estate Economics, American Real Estate and Urban Economics Association, vol. 49(S2), pages 395-427, September.
    2. Kate Rybczynski, 2015. "Gender differences in portfolio risk across birth cohort and marital status," Canadian Journal of Economics/Revue canadienne d'économique, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 48(1), pages 28-63, February.
    3. Shang-Jin Wei & Xiaobo Zhang, 2016. "The Competitive Saving Motive: Concept, Evidence, and Implications," Frontiers of Economics in China-Selected Publications from Chinese Universities, Higher Education Press, vol. 11(3), pages 355-366, September.
    4. Shihping Kevin Huang, 2013. "The Impact of CEO Characteristics on Corporate Sustainable Development," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(4), pages 234-244, July.
    5. Stark, Oded & Zawojska, Ewa, 2015. "Gender differentiation in risk-taking behavior: On the relative risk aversion of single men and single women," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 83-87.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • D92 - Microeconomics - - Micro-Based Behavioral Economics - - - Intertemporal Firm Choice, Investment, Capacity, and Financing
    • G02 - Financial Economics - - General - - - Behavioral Finance: Underlying Principles
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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