Does the CEO effect differ in times of crisis? Evidence from US and China during the global financial crisis
研究了全球金融危机期间CEO对公司业绩的影响是否变化，发现美国和中国企业在危机期间CEO对会计业绩的影响下降、对市场业绩的影响上升，危机后反弹。
This study investigates short-term fluctuations in the CEO effect, measured as the proportion of variance in firm performance attributable to individual CEOs, in response to macroeconomic crises, with a specific focus on the global financial crisis. Utilizing multilevel modeling on a 15-year dataset of US firms and assessing three performance metrics, we identify a significant decline (increase) in the CEO effect on accounting-based (market-based) performance measures (measure) from the pre-crisis to the crisis period, followed by a significant rebound post-crisis. We replicate the analysis using a sample of Chinese firms and find a consistent pattern. Our research advances the CEO effect literature by emphasizing the dynamic nature of the CEO effect in an international context. Our findings highlight that the CEO effect is not static but can undergo short-term fluctuations due to significant changes in the macroeconomic environment.