Entrepreneurs' hobbies and corporate risk taking: Evidence from China

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between the hobbies of private entrepreneurs and the level of corporate risk taking by analyzing Chinese private listed companies from 2010 to 2018 as samples. The results show that entrepreneurs' hobbies can directly reflect the risk preference of entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurs' hobbies classified by their risk level are significantly positively correlated with corporate risk taking. However, the political background and marital status of entrepreneurs can both inhibit the effect of entrepreneurs' hobbies on corporate risk taking, leading to the reduction of the level of corporate risk taking. The above conclusions were still valid after the robustness tests. This paper enriches and expands the relevant research about entrepreneurs' personal characteristics and corporate risk taking. It also has some practical implications for private enterprise managers' hiring decisions and corporate governance issues.