Do CEO characteristics explain firm performance in India?

Abstract

PurposeThe center of concern of this empirical paper is the connection between chief executive officer (CEO) characteristics and firm performance. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThe paper inquires into the hypothesis on the relationship between CEO characteristics (demographic and professional) and accounting measures of firm value. The study is based on second-hand information comprising of Nifty 500 firms for a period of five years ranging from 2012 to 2016. Panel regressions are run on the final sample composed of 1,535 observations to test the hypothesized relationship.FindingsThe stated findings specify that long-tenured CEOs and firms led by female CEOs are negatively related to firm performance. Moreover, the authors find that the greater the CEO share ownership, higher the firm performance stands. Further, duality and foreign CEOs make a significant contribution when firm value is based on ROA. Results also show that CEO outside directorships have a noteworthy positive relationship with ROE.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are limited to non-financial listed companies of the index. Future research can also experiment with financial and unlisted companies to have a different perspective.Practical implicationsThe study may provide worthwhile insights to shareholders as they largely seek to hire the most capable CEOs with the relevant combination of skills to achieve shareholders’ goals and improve the Indian competitive power in the global market.Originality/valueThis paper provides a comprehensive picture by inculcating different CEO traits especially in a progressing nation like India with a unique set of economic, political and cultural environment.