TY - JOUR
T1 - Early-life experience and CEOs’ reactions to COVID-19
AU - Ru, Hong
AU - Yang, Endong
AU - Zou, Kunru
N1 - This research was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project no. 72302003) and a multiyear research grant awarded by the University of Macau (MYRG2022-00146-FBA) to Endong Yang, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Project no. 72302228) awarded to Kunru Zou, and the Tier 1 RG134/20 from the Ministry of Education, Singapore, awarded to Hong Ru.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2024/8/5
Y1 - 2024/8/5
N2 - This study investigates how CEOs' experience of natural disasters and severe disease outbreaks in their formative years influences their firms' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We observe that firms whose CEOs experienced disease outbreaks akin to COVID-19 early in their lives demonstrated more conservative responses to the emergence of the COVID-19 in late February 2020, notably through a substantial slowdown in capital expenditure growth. Moreover, firms led by CEOs with early-life disease experience exhibit a more negative tone in their corporate disclosures and heightened pessimism in their earnings forecasts following the COVID-19 outbreak. These effects are more pronounced for firms in industries that were hit hard by the pandemic. Our findings suggest that severe events early in life leave indelible imprints on memory, thereby impacting CEOs’ decision-making when managing similar crises in their professional careers.
AB - This study investigates how CEOs' experience of natural disasters and severe disease outbreaks in their formative years influences their firms' responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. We observe that firms whose CEOs experienced disease outbreaks akin to COVID-19 early in their lives demonstrated more conservative responses to the emergence of the COVID-19 in late February 2020, notably through a substantial slowdown in capital expenditure growth. Moreover, firms led by CEOs with early-life disease experience exhibit a more negative tone in their corporate disclosures and heightened pessimism in their earnings forecasts following the COVID-19 outbreak. These effects are more pronounced for firms in industries that were hit hard by the pandemic. Our findings suggest that severe events early in life leave indelible imprints on memory, thereby impacting CEOs’ decision-making when managing similar crises in their professional careers.
KW - Early-life experience
KW - Corporate disclosure
KW - Management style
KW - COVID-19
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85202507718&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0165410124000648?via%3Dihub
U2 - 10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101734
DO - 10.1016/j.jacceco.2024.101734
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85202507718
SN - 0165-4101
JO - Journal of Accounting and Economics
JF - Journal of Accounting and Economics
M1 - 101734
ER -
