 How does the CEO horizon problem affect the cost of bank loans?Yangmei Wang and Guo, Savannah (Yuanyuan) Advances in accounting, 2025, vol. 68, issue C Abstract: In this paper, we investigate the effect of the CEO horizon problem on the cost of bank loans. Prior research suggests that CEOs at the end of their tenures become myopic and have fewer incentives to act in the best interests of their firms, creating a CEO horizon problem. We predict and find that loan spreads significantly increase in the last two years, especially in the final year, of a CEO's tenure. Further analyses reveal firms with a lower credit rating, without a prior relationship with the bank, and with planned CEO departures exhibit a stronger main effect, suggesting a change in a bank's risk tolerance as a potential mechanism. Next, we find that the main effect is more pronounced for firms with weaker corporate governance. In addition, we rule out incompetent CEOs, uncertainty associated with the new CEO, and the earning management effect as alternative explanations. Our paper contributes to the recent research investigating how executive characteristics, specifically the CEO horizon problem, influence the cost of bank loans. Keywords: CEO horizon problem; Cost of bank loans; Corporate governance (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:advacc:v:68:y:2025:i:c:s0882611024000397 DOI: 10.1016/j.adiac.2024.100768 Access Statistics for this article Advances in accounting is currently edited by Dennis Caplan More articles in Advances in accounting from Elsevier |
Is your work missing from RePEc? Here is how to contribute.
Questions or problems? Check the EconPapers FAQ or send mail to .
EconPapers is hosted by the
School of Business at Örebro University.