Pilot CEOs and corporate innovation

Jayanthi Sunder, Shyam V. Sunder and Jingjing Zhang

Journal of Financial Economics, 2017, vol. 123, issue 1, 209-224

Abstract: We find evidence that chief executive officers’ (CEOs’) hobby of flying airplanes is associated with significantly better innovation outcomes, measured by patents and citations, greater innovation effectiveness, and more diverse and original patents. We rule out alternative explanations, leading us to conclude that CEO pilot credentials capture the personality trait of sensation seeking. Sensation seeking combines risk taking with a desire to pursue novel experiences and has been associated with creativity. Our evidence highlights sensation seeking as a valuable personality trait that can be used to identify CEOs who are likely to drive innovation success.

Keywords: CEOs; Innovation; Personality traits; Sensation seeking; Intrinsic motivation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: G32 G34 J24 O31 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (162)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:123:y:2017:i:1:p:209-224

DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2016.11.002

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