Which CEO Characteristics and Abilities Matter?

Steven Kaplan (), Mark M. Klebanov and Morten Sorensen

No 14195, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We study the characteristics and abilities of CEO candidates for companies involved in buyout (LBO) and venture capital (VC) transactions and relate them to hiring decisions, investment decisions, and company performance. Candidates are assessed on more than thirty individual abilities. The abilities are highly correlated; a factor analysis suggests there are two primary factors with intuitive characterizations -- one for general ability and one that contrasts team-related, interpersonal skills with execution skills. Both LBO and VC firms are more likely to hire and invest in CEOs with greater general abilities, both execution- and team-related. Success, however, is more strongly related to execution skills than to team-related skills. Success is, at best, only marginally related to incumbency, holding observable talent and ability constant.

JEL-codes: D21 D23 G24 G3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-bec and nep-lab
Note: CF
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Published as STEVEN N. KAPLAN & MARK M. KLEBANOV & MORTEN SORENSEN, 2012. "Which CEO Characteristics and Abilities Matter?," The Journal of Finance, vol 67(3), pages 973-1007.

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