Pilot CEOs and corporate innovation

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Sunder, Jayanthi; Sunder, Shyam V.; Zhang, Jingjing
• 署名单位: University of Arizona; McGill University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-405X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2016.11.002
• 发表日期: 2017
• 页码: 209-224
• 关键词: CEOs; INNOVATION; Personality traits; SENSATION SEEKING; Intrinsic motivation

摘要

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. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.