CEO IQ and earnings quality in private firms
利用芬兰私营企业数据，研究发现CEO智商越高，盈余预测未来现金流的能力越强，即盈余质量更高，且该效应在银行债务增加或信用风险高的企业中更明显。
We use comprehensive data on Finnish private firms with bank financing to examine the effect of CEO cognitive ability, specifically intellectual quotient (IQ), on the ability of earnings to predict future operating cash flow. While prior research has largely focused on public firms and typically inferred managerial ability from firm efficiency measures and acquired competencies, our study provides new insights by examining the innate, pre-labour market cognitive ability of CEOs. Our findings indicate that higher CEO IQ enhances the predictive ability of earnings for future cash flows, suggesting improved earnings quality. This association is more pronounced if the firm increases its bank debt in the future or has higher credit risk. Overall, this study contributes to the underexplored area of individual CEO cognitive abilities in relation to earnings quality, specifically focusing on private firms with bank debt.