IBS Lunchtime Research Seminar - Do CEOs Matter in the Long Run? An Attribute-Based Contextualization of the CEO Effect

You are cordially invited to attend an International Business and Strategy Departmental Research Meeting, during which there will be a presentation by Michael Aldous, Queen's University Belfast. A reminder that attendance for IBS (full time, research oriented) staff and full-time students is compulsory, and where possible, must be in person. Individuals unable to attend in person, due to legitimate reasons will be provided a Teams link on request. Non-IBS staff are welcome to attend. If you have not received the email invite please email Angie Clark

Please join us in Room 108, Henley Business School.

Please make sure you let me know in advance if you intend to attend in person so that the correct amount of catering is booked.

Date: Wednesday 26th November 2025, HBS Room 108

Time: 13.00 - 14.30

Abstract:

Drawing on the concept of managerial discretion we propose that variation in the CEO effect overtime can be explained by changes in the formation of executives and the ownership and governance of firms. To test these ideas, we use a high-dimensional fixed-effects model and a ‘History to Theory’ framework, to examine how individual CEO attributes and organizational characteristics explain change in the CEO effect in the UK. We use a hand-collected dataset of the largest 100 UK companies between 1900-2009. Our sample includes 407 firms, 1,558 CEOs, and c.14,000 firm-year observations of firm performance. We find that in the UK, the CEO effect fluctuates between 6-17% and gradually increased across the century. Personal attributes and positional variables significantly influence variation in the CEO effect.