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Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the impact of retrenchment strategy on firm performance in the context of Pakistani firms while considering the moderating role of chief executive officer (CEO) power. By examining the influence of CEO duality and CEO share ownership on the relationship, this study contributes to strategic management and corporate governance knowledge within the Pakistani business environment. Design/methodology/approach: A quantitative approach was used to analyze the relationship using data from annual financial statements. The sample consisted of 76 companies from the KSE-100 index from the year 2015 to 2020. Random effects regression models were used, along with hierarchical regression to explore the moderating effect of CEO power. Findings: The findings demonstrate that the implementation of a retrenchment strategy positively impacts firm performance in Pakistani firms. The study also reveals that CEO power plays a crucial role in strengthening the relationship between retrenchment strategy and firm performance. Moreover, the study highlights the importance of considering the temporal sequence, size and age of firms when examining the impact of CEO power and retrenchment strategy on firm performance. Research limitations/implications: The study enhances the understanding of the contingent nature of retrenchment strategies and the influence of CEO power in the Pakistani business context. Practically, the research contributes to strategic management and corporate governance dynamics, facilitating the development of strategies that enhance firm performance and sustainability in Pakistan. Originality/value: This research provides original insights by specifically focusing on the Pakistani context and analyzing the interplay between retrenchment strategy, CEO power and firm performance. The study adds to the limited literature on the relationship between retrenchment and performance in the Pakistani business environment. Additionally, it highlights the significance of CEO power as a critical factor in determining the success of retrenchment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CEO power has been extensively studied across various disciplines and country contexts. Despite the exponential growth of research, there has been limited effort to integrate the vast body of literature. Using bibliometric and other analytical techniques we apply to the 580 articles in our review, we identify and discuss the topics and major research streams considered in CEO power research and their evolution over the years. We also highlight several shortcomings in the existing literature, including four pressing challenges concerning unclear conceptualizations, varied measurement and methods, the under-contextualized nature of CEO power across international contexts, and a lack of attention to how the changing corporate governance landscape has affected CEO power. We provide a roadmap for future scholarship by offering suggestions for addressing these pressing challenges. Finally, we provide several new and promising research directions in our discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The chief executive officer (CEO) is the executive at the top of the firm's hierarchy and plays a significant role in the firm's investment in innovation and whose decision-making behaviour can be influenced by external contexts such as media coverage. This paper examines the synergistic effects of CEO power and media sentiment on firm investment in innovation. We use ordinary least squares regression to find that both CEO power and media sentiment significantly contribute to firm innovation investment and that there are significant synergies between them. This synergistic effect is stronger for firms with high levels of investment in innovation. This study extends research on CEO power, media sentiment, and firm innovation investment in emerging market contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing on agency and gender socialisation theories, this study examines the effect of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) power on corporate modern slavery disclosures (MSD) and investigates whether board gender diversity might influence this relationship. Based on a sample comprising the Financial Times Stock Exchange (FTSE) 100 companies from 2016 to 2020, the findings indicate that, although there has been progress in corporate transparency concerning modern slavery, a significant gap persists in the reporting on the measurement and monitoring of the effectiveness of their policies. This may stem from powerful CEOs' desires to maintain a positive corporate image, leading to minimal disclosure of potentially damaging information. The fixed effects panel regression analysis reveals a negative relationship between CEO power (CEOP) and the extent of modern slavery disclosures (MSD), with a significant moderating effect observed when female board representation is substantial. This evidence suggests that female board members may challenge groupthink and introduce diverse perspectives that can alter the board's dynamics, potentially mitigating the negative impact of CEOP on issues like modern slavery disclosure by encouraging more ethical and collective decision‐making. This research underscores the need for greater transparency and accountability in addressing modern slavery and promoting more responsible business practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: In this fast-changing world, digitization has become crucial to organizations, allowing decision-makers to alter corporate processes. Companies with a higher corporate social responsibility (CSR) level not only help encourage employees to focus on their goals, but they also show that they take their social responsibility seriously, which is increasingly important in today's digital economy. So, this study aims to examine the relationship between digital transformation and CSR disclosure of Chinese A-share companies. Furthermore, this research investigates the moderating impact of governance heterogeneity, including CEO power and corporate internal control (INT) mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach: This study used fixed effect estimation with robust standard errors to examine the relationship between digital transformation and CSR disclosure and the moderating effect of governance heterogeneity among Chinese A-share companies from 2010 to 2020. The whole sample consists of 17,266 firms, including 5,038 state-owned enterprise (SOE) company records and 12,228 non-SOE records. The whole sample data is collected from the China Stock Market and Accounting Research, the Chinese Research Data Services and the WIND databases. Findings: The regression results lead us to three conclusions after classifying the sample into non-SOE and SOE groups. First, Chinese A-share businesses with greater levels of digitalization have lower CSR disclosures. Both SOE and non-SOE are consistent with these findings. Second, increasing CEO authority creates a more centralized company decision-making structure (Breuer et al., 2022; Freire, 2019), which improves the negative association between digitalization and CSR disclosure. These conclusions, however, also apply to non-SOE. Finally, INT reinforces the association between corporate digitization and CSR disclosure, which is especially obvious in SOEs. These findings are robust to alternative HEXUN CSR disclosure index. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the negative relationship between corporate digitalization and CSR disclosures is more pronounced in bigger, highly levered and highly financialized firms. Originality/value: Digitalization and CSR disclosure are well studied, but few have examined their interactions from a governance heterogeneity perspective in China. Practitioners and policymakers may use these insights to help business owners implement suitable digital policies for firm development from diverse business perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated whether local Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) with a strong sense of power foster excessive investment compared with non-local CEOs to explore how the psychological impacts of power shape individual behaviour. This study observed a sample comprising 5460 firms from Chinese listed firms yearly between 2008 and 2020. This study found a strong association between local CEOs and excessive investment. The results of this study remain consistent after a series of robustness tests. Further analyses revealed that both CEO overconfidence and power are important factors shaping excessive investment. In conclusion, these findings revealed that local CEOs foster excessive investment owing to the psychological effects of sense of power. This study provides insights into the influence of the CEO's local status on corporate decision-making, which can be beneficial for policymakers, investors, and other stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigates the relationship between the CEO's power, the workforce's productivity, and the company's value in Iraqi stock exchange companies. A sample of 34 companies listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange from 2016 to 2021 was tested using a multiple regression model, a panel data approach, and a fixed effects model. CEO power is measured by the busing factor analysis approach, which integrates four indices: CEO salary, CEO ownership, CEO tenure, and CEO control over board members. The findings indicate a positive and significant relationship between CEO power and labor productivity. Also, there is a negative and significant relationship between CEO power and the stickiness of labor costs. On the other hand, we found a positive and significant relationship between the CEO power and firm value. In addition, labor cost stickiness has a positive effect on firm value. By highlighting the CEOs' power, this research tries to increase companies' attention to this issue and its effect on improving employment productivity, cost management, and firm value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Grounded in both agency and upper echelons perspectives, this paper examines the effects of chief executive officer (CEO) narcissism and power on corporate reporting on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). We theorise that CEOs' narcissistic tendencies and power will influence their firms' SDGs engagement and reporting practices. We also examine whether SDGs reporting affects firm performance. Based on a sample of FTSE 100 companies for the period 2018–2022, we test our ideas using generalised estimating equations. The results show that CEO narcissism is positively related to SDGs reporting; however, this effect is weaker in firms led by older narcissistic CEOs. Further, CEO power is negatively associated with SDGs reporting, suggesting that firms led by powerful CEOs are reluctant to integrate the SDGs. Finally, corporate SDGs reporting lacks any value‐enhancing effect on firm performance, supporting the symbolic perspective of sustainability management. Our results contribute to the literature on SDGs accounting and enrich our understanding of the underlying dynamics shaping corporate disclosure practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ESG paradigm has exerted increasing pressure on firms to adopt environment‐friendly and socially responsible policies. Interestingly, less attention has been paid to the drivers of ESG performance. Therefore, we address this gap by analyzing a sample of Chinese non‐financial firms. First, we examine if CEO power dimensions influence ESG performance. Second, we investigate if board gender diversity (BGD) influences the association between CEO power and ESG performance. Third, we explore if board independence and board gender diversity complement each other by influencing the relationship between CEO power and ESG performance. The study has used a rigorous methodology comprising five statistical estimation techniques and several variable measurements. In addition, we extensively analyze the two‐way and three‐way interactions for moderation analysis. Our unique results indicate that CEO structural and duality powers diminish ESG performance while CEO expert and ownership powers enhance ESG performance. Further, we document that BGD has a positive influence on the association between CEO power and ESG performance. The results also reveal that BGD and BI favorably complement each other by influencing the relationship between CEO power and ESG performance. The further analysis results indicate that an adequate number (or critical mass) of female directors are required on the board along with CEO power to improve ESG performance. We also find that CEO tenure and ownership have an inverted U‐shaped relationship with ESG performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Innovation is a key driver of firm success. To encourage innovation, firms often offer equity‐based compensation, such as stock options, to better align CEOs' personal interests with shareholder value. Drawing on agency theory, we argue that stock options may not always benefit a firm by encouraging innovation. Instead, we demonstrate that CEOs intending to exercise their stock options have the incentive to be myopic in R&D management so that they can temporarily boost the stock price and, thus, increase their personal wealth. Using a unique multi‐source dataset of 335 Standard & Poor 500 companies from 2007 to 2015, we find evidence supporting this argument. Moreover, the findings suggest that factors that can affect the perceived pressure to promote innovation by CEOs might reshape the association between stock option exercise and myopic R&D management. For example, power resulting from CEO duality decreases the perceived pressure to promote innovation, which increases the likelihood of CEOs engaging in myopic R&D management when exercising their stock options. However, when shareholders present a long investment horizon or when firms have high innovativeness, CEOs perceive more pressure to promote innovation and thus are less likely to opt for myopic R&D management while exercising stock options. The findings provide important insights for better understanding and controlling managerial myopia in innovation management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to establish the nexus between CEO power and bank risk. Previous studies on how CEO power affects risk-taking have produced mixed results. Some studies show that CEO power reduces risk, while others show the reverse. This lack of conclusive findings motivated this study. This study used secondary data from a sample of 14 commercial banks in Uganda covering a period from 2010 to 2020. System GMM was used to establish the relationship between variables, while ARDL was used to infer causality. Findings show that commercial banks with powerful CEOs have lower risk. Such powerful CEOs have prestige power, are internally hired, have ownership, and have served for more than 4 years up to 7 years, and hence possess expert power. We further found a long-run positive relationship between previous bank risk and current bank risk, as well as a causal relationship between CEO power and bank risk. In case there is a need to reduce bank risk in Uganda, making adjustments in CEO power will help. It may also be necessary for persistent adjustment and implementation of decisions and policy actions, if bank risk is to be minimized.

This study assesses the effects of CEO power on green innovation and, more importantly, explores how different performance feedback affects this relationship by considering the positive and negative aspects of financial and environmental performance feedback. We further discuss how institutional investors respond to the decision‐making of powerful CEOs on green innovation. By using Chinese manufacturing observations, we find that although powerful CEOs positively promote firms' green innovation, this positive effect does not apply to all conditions. The impacts of CEO power on green innovation are different under the positive and negative aspects of performance feedback, and under financial and environmental performance feedback. Accordingly, heterogeneous institutional investors respond differently to these various situations. Specifically, pressure‐resistant institutional investors serve as 'supervisors' under the positive aspects of financial and environmental performance feedback and shift to 'bystanders' under the negative aspects of financial and environmental performance feedback. Pressure‐sensitive institutional investors always act as 'bystanders' under different performance feedback. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pressing global issue of climate change has led to increased scrutiny over corporate environmental practices, particularly carbon emission disclosures. This research aims to examine the influence of environmental performance and corporate governance mechanisms on carbon emission disclosure within the transportation and logistics sector in Indonesia from 2018 to 2023, with a specific focus on the moderating role of CEO power. By using a quantitative research design and panel data regression analysis, the study explores how environmental performance and board size affect carbon emission disclosure and assesses the impact of CEO power in moderating these relationships. The findings reveal that environmental performance and board size do not significantly impact carbon emission disclosure. This study contributes to the literature by emphasizing the crucial role of CEO power in enhancing corporate transparency regarding environmental performance and highlights the need for robust governance to improve ecological accountability. The results offer valuable insights for policymakers and corporate managers in developing governance frameworks that promote transparency and sustainable practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The research aims to analyze the influence of Chief Executive Officer (CEO) power factors on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure by listed companies on the Vietnamese stock market. To examine the relationship between CEO power and CSR disclosure (CSRD), our study used the generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation method with panel data from 210 listed companies on the Vietnamese stock market during the period 2015–2022. The research results indicate that factors such as duality, tenure, share ownership, and CEO compensation reduce the level of CSR disclosure by companies. On the other hand, CEO education and age show a positive relationship with disclosure level. The empirical results of this study provide a solid foundation for managers to establish effective corporate governance mechanisms and enhance the quality of sustainable reporting by companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine links between corporate cash holdings and types of CEO power, and how these affect firm performance, using agency and stewardship theories to distinguish two types of CEO power: one attributable to the CEO position, and one attributable to CEO personal characteristics. Measured as indices, we find positive associations with cash holdings for both types of power, individually and in combination, but only positional power with higher cash holdings is positively associated with firm performance. Our findings are shown to be robust and suggest that scrutiny of cash holdings by CEOs with high personal power may be prudent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study investigates the relationship between internal audit function quality, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) power and earnings quality and how CEO power moderates the relationship between internal audit function quality and earnings quality. The study is correlational, cross-sectional, and perception-based that obtained 136 usable questionnaires from regulated firms in Uganda. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Scientists, Smartpls software, and Jose’s Modgraph. The results show that internal audit function quality is positive but not significantly related to earnings quality. The results revealed that internal audit function quality is negatively related to CEO power although the association is not significant. CEO power is significant and negatively related to earnings quality. The interaction effects of internal audit function quality and CEO power on earnings quality are significant, according to which the greater the power of the CEO, the lower the effect of the IAF on earnings quality. The current study adds to literature of internal audit function quality, CEO power and earnings quality and consequently, moderating role of CEO power in the relationship between internal audit and earnings quality. This study is relevant to policy makers and regulators who need to consider these results to identify the needed changes in their regulation of accounting practice and governance in Uganda.

In this research work, we investigate the direct impact of CEO power on corporate performance, as well as the mediating role of green innovation in this hypothesized relationship. In this study, we use observation data collected from 780 listed manufacturing companies, explicitly focusing on the Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE), and adopt a GMM (generalized method of moments) model for testing our hypotheses. The results of this research show that CEO power has a negative impact on sustainable corporate performance, while the mediating role of green innovation positively and completely regulates the effect of CEO power on enterprises' sustainable performance. This study adds novelty to the literature as it explores the influence of green innovation in manufacturing enterprises on CEO power and firm performance and observes the direct impact of green innovation and CEO power on sustainable business performance. The results of this study show that a green innovation strategy significantly affects CEO power and manufacturing firm performance and that companies that adopt green initiatives can increase corporate value and improve their reputation among stakeholders. The conclusions of this study have important implications for both theory and practice in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Employing non-family CEOs in Chinese family firms has become a universal phenomenon. The existing research mainly focuses on the direct effect of non-family CEOs on corporate operation, but ignores the capital market influence despite stock price crash has a more serious damage for family firms due to their reputation concern. To fill this research gap, this paper shed light on the important but ignored capital market effect of non-family members by exploring the role of nonfamily CEOs on stock price crash risk. Based on 12,561 firm-year observations of listed family firms in China from 2004 to 2020, this study estimates using correlation analysis, multiple regression analysis, entropy balancing matching, treatment effect model and granger causality test. The results show that family firms with non-family CEOs are negatively related with future stock price crash risk in Chinese family firms, and this relationship tends to be stronger when CEOs have more power. Further, to explore the effect mechanism, we isolate the formation of stock price crash risk into two stages: bad news generation and bad news disclosure, and find that non-family CEOs reduce bad news generation but have no impact on bad news disclosure. Additionally, nonfamily CEOs decrease stock price crash risk when governance mechanisms in family firms are weaker, industry environments are poorer and macroeconomic conditions are more positive. This study highlights the negative effect of non-family CEOs on stock price crash risk in Chinese family firms, firstly clarifies the effect mechanism based on the two stages of stock price crash formation and finds that CEO power strengthens the role of non-family CEOs in lowering stock price crash risk in family firms, which differs from previous studies. Finding of this study also have important implications for the managers and investors of family firms. Family firms are expected to increase the introduction of non-family members and strengthen supervision to formalize governance structure. Meanwhile, investors should also consider the ability and experience of top management teams in family firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between board independence, CEO power, and environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) performance of Chinese companies. The study finds that in industrial firms with significant environmental concerns, board independence fails to moderate the adverse effects of strong CEO power on ESG performance. This failure is attributed to management’s excessive focus on short-term profits and lack of checks and balances. However, in nonindustrial companies, the positive effect of CEO power on ESG performance can be dampened by board independence. This heterogeneity also varies among companies with different political backgrounds. Moreover, the study emphasizes the significance of potential trade-offs between short-term financial benefits and long-term sustainability objectives across regions and corporate governance methodologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This study aims to investigate the relationship between chief executive officer (CEO) power and the level of tax avoidance of Tunisian listed companies. It also examines the moderating role of institutional ownership in this association. Design/methodology/approach: The sample comprises 306 firm-year observations of companies listed on the Tunis Stock Exchange during the 2013–2020 period. Findings: The results indicate that CEO power reduces tax avoidance levels. Moreover, the relationship between CEO power and tax avoidance is more pronounced in the presence of institutional ownership, suggesting that CEOs act less opportunistically when monitored by institutional investors, which results in a reduction in tax avoidance. Practical implications: This study suggests that CEO power and institutional shareholders' influence are important factors in determining firms' avoidance behavior. This study has significant implications for shareholders and regulatory bodies. Indeed, shareholders apprehend the impact of appointing a powerful CEO on tax avoidance practices. This study may also provide regulators with new insights into the influence of CEO power dimensions and institutional ownership on tax aggressiveness. Originality/value: This study fills the gap in the accounting literature by investigating how CEO power may impact tax avoidance behavior and provides empirical evidence on the moderating impact of institutional ownership on this relationship in an emerging economy context characterized by a weakly protected investor setting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the association between economic uncertainty and audit quality in the BRICS nations, examining both input-based (e.g., audit fees, auditor tenure) and output-based (e.g., restatements, total accruals) measures of audit quality. Utilizing a dataset of 83,511 firm-year observations from 1995–2022, it reveals a significant negative impact of economic uncertainty on audit quality. Additionally, the research explores the moderating role of CEO power, employing principal component analysis to merge various indicators of CEO influence. Findings indicate that powerful CEOs can mitigate the adverse effects of economic uncertainty on audit quality, suggesting a U-shaped relationship between CEO power and audit quality. Methodologically robust, employing techniques like two-stage least squares (2SLS) and two-stage system generalized method of moments (system GMM) to address endogeneity, the study offers a comprehensive analysis of audit quality in the context of economic fluctuations and corporate governance, contributing significantly to the understanding of these dynamics in emerging economies, particularly in the diverse and influential BRICS nations. This study's findings have significant implications for stakeholders and policymakers, providing insights that can inform policy decisions and enhance corporate governance frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sustainable development goals (SDGs) are a guide for caring for the planet, guaranteeing the fundamental rights of its inhabitants and shaping sustainable economic growth. In the current context, characterised by great challenges and geopolitical conflicts, the figure of the CEO is key to driving the necessary transformation of companies and the prioritisation of their commitment to the current challenges of the world we live in. In this regard, the aim of this paper is to deepen current knowledge on the role of CEO visionary leadership in shaping inclusive and sustainable business models aligned with the goals of the 2030 Agenda. For the period 2019–2022, we study the information reported by the top 3910 companies worldwide on their contributions to the SDGs and analyse whether these commitments are determined by the structural power of the CEO within these companies. The results obtained confirm previous arguments, contradicting some of the previous evidence. In this sense, our findings show that the information disclosed by companies in relation to projects aligned with the SDGs is positively associated with leadership figures who wield power that allows them to influence the agenda and decisions made by the board of directors. The influence of leaders is reinforced in scenarios where companies excel in sustainability performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Collaboration networks are not intrinsically unstable and fragile, ego-network stability cannot be taken for granted. Extant research has highlighted the determinants of ego-network stability; nevertheless, it is still unclear how behavioral factors affect a firm's ego-network stability in a collaboration network as a consequence of a decision-maker's bounded rationality. Drawing from the behavioral theory of the firm and attention-based view, this paper explores how ego-network stability is affected by performance feedback and investigates the influence of CEOs' information advantage and power on firms' responses to performance feedback. Using longitudinal data on Chinese publicly listed firms in the pharmaceutical industry from 2007 to 2020, we find that the magnitude of a firm's outperformance relative to its aspirations harms its ego-network stability. The magnitude of a firm's underperformance relative to its aspirations has a U-shaped relationship with its ego-network stability. Moreover, CEOs' social capital and power strengthen the negative relationship between the magnitude of a firm's outperformance relative to its aspirations and its ego-network stability, and CEOs' social capital flattens the U-shaped effect of the magnitude of a firm's underperformance relative to its aspirations on its ego-network stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Practicing ESG concepts is considered a viable way to achieve sustainable development for enterprises and is an important contributor to realizing high-quality economic development. This paper builds on the upper echelons theory, which posits that a company's strategic decisions are influenced by the cognitive perceptions and values of its CEO. Based on the data of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2021, this paper empirically examines the impact of CEOs' green, academic, and political experiences on corporate ESG performance through multiple regression analysis. This study found that CEO experience has a significant impact on corporate ESG performance: rich green, academic, and political experience promotes corporate ESG performance. A stepwise regression test found that CEO experience drives corporate ESG performance by improving corporate green innovation and alleviating financing constraints. Further analysis showed that the contribution of CEO experience to ESG performance is more pronounced for firms with younger CEOs, non-state-owned enterprises, and high-polluting industries, although CEO gender is insignificant. The findings of this study provide important policy implications to improve ESG responsibility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformationsw has become crucial for business to stay competitive in today's technology-driven world. Research shows CEOs' characteristics can influence firms' digital transformation, however, this work has not considered the role of CEO regulatory focus. In this paper, we build a framework to understand the relationship between CEO regulatory focus and firm's digital transformation. Build on regulatory focus theory, we argue that CEO promotion focus is positively associated with enterprise digital transformation, whereas CEO prevention focus is negatively associated with enterprise digital transformation. We further identify two contextual factors that moderating the relationship between CEO regulatory focus and digital transformation. Specifically, we find CEO power and economic policy uncertainty strengthen the relationship between CEO regulatory focus and enterprise digital transformation. We find strong support for our hypotheses in a sample of 2696 Chinese publicly listed firms between 2008 and 2023. Our findings have significant implications for understanding the role of CEO regulatory focus on digital transformation.

Purpose – This study investigates the moderating effect of CEO power on the relationship between labor productivity and financial performance in the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Design/methodology/approach – In this study, the power of the CEO variable was measured using the power index method and its effect on the relationship between labor productivity and financial performance was tested using a multivariate regression. The study sample consisted of 1,040 observations and 130 firms listed on the TSE over an eight-year period between 2012 and 2019. Panel data and appropriate statistical techniques were applied to estimate models. In this study, Tobin’s Q and return on assets (ROA) are the two variables used to measure financial performance. Findings – The results of the hypotheses show that the link between labor productivity and financial performance based on Tobin’s Q and ROA strengthens with increasing CEO power. Thus, the stewardship theory is approved on the TSE. In addition, CEO power and labor productivity have a positive impact on firm performance. Research limitations/implications – To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first study to examine the moderating impact of CEO power on the relationship between labor productivity and firms' financial performance in emerging capital markets. Therefore, the results of this study can be used by investors, board of directors, policymakers and regulations. Practical implications – Taking into consideration the sanctions on Iran's economy during the study period and to increase the productivity and financial performance of the company, the results of this study can provide a practical guide for the board of directors to consider the characteristics of CEO power and how to choose it in the emerging capital market. Additionally, the study results show that investors should choose companies with strong CEO to invest in the Iranian capital market. Originality/value – The current study is the first study conducted in an emerging economy to examine the moderating impact of CEO power on the link between labor productivity and financial performance.

The current study investigates the relationship between the CEO’s power, the workforce’s productivity, and the company’s value in Iraqi stock exchange companies. A sample of 34 companies listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange from 2016 to 2021 was tested using a multiple regression model, a panel data approach, and a fixed effects model. CEO power is measured by the busing factor analysis approach, which integrates four indices: CEO salary, CEO ownership, CEO tenure, and CEO control over board members. The findings indicate a positive and significant relationship between CEO power and labor productivity. Also, there is a negative and significant relationship between CEO power and the stickiness of labor costs. On the other hand, we found a positive and significant relationship between the CEO power and firm value. In addition, labor cost stickiness has a positive effect on firm value. By highlighting the CEOs’ power, this research tries to increase companies’ attention to this issue and its effect on improving employment productivity, cost management, and firm value.

Business sustainability calls for responsibility in the context of the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) agenda. According to the upper echelons' theory, a firm's activities and business outcomes are charted by top management. However, how the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) balances the firm's profit maximisation objectives while serving the ESG agenda remains unexplored. Therefore, this study takes a holistic approach to examine how CEO power affects the business sustainability of a firm through managerial risk-taking. We augment the upper echelons theory of Hambrick and Mason (1984) by incorporating the CEO power framework of Finkelstein (1992) with the managerial risk-taking framework of Hoskisson et al. (2017). We find that CEO power is associated with greater managerial risk-taking and poorer business sustainability. The ownership power, expert power and prestige power of the CEO are important in explaining the managerial risk-taking and firm sustainability. Specifically, financial leverage and research and development (R&D) expenses partially mediate CEO power in explaining a firm's ESG performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the effect of CEO characteristics on bank stability of commercial banks in Vietnam. The study used regression models Pooled OLS, Fixed effects Model (FEM), random effects model (REM), and Feasible Generalized Least Square (FGLS) to evaluate the relationship between CEO characteristics and bank stability of 26 commercial banks in Vietnam. To deal with the limitations of traditional regression methods, we propose Bayesian regression method. The data collection period in the study is from 2013 to 2022. In these regression models, CEO power, female CEO, CEO tenure, and CEO age are independent variables. The dependent variable representing bank stability is the Z‐score. The research results show that the factors CEO power, female CEO, CEO tenure, CEO age have a positive impact on bank stability in Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the impact of chief executive officers (CEOs) power on corporate strategies has attracted significant public debate in the academic milieu. In this study, we comprehensively review the academic literature on CEO power in relation to different corporate policies. We conduct a comprehensive review by dividing the literature into four streams: CEO power and firm performance, CEO power and executive compensation, CEO power and firm risk-taking, and finally, CEO power on other corporate strategies. Our review shows that the findings are mixed in relation to the effects of CEO power on firm strategies. Overall, the negative impact of CEO power on firm performance is attributed to agency theory, where CEOs pursue their own vested interests, thereby leading to weak corporate governance. The review reveals that the positive impact of CEO power on corporate outcomes is due to effective board monitoring, a powerful board, and high market competition. Our study also shows that most of the studies have adopted Finkelstein's (1992) four sources of CEO power but have taken different proxies to measure these powers. We have also identified several gaps in the current studies and recommend avenues for further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study first determines whether CEO overconfidence decreases the level of firm performance and increases the performance variability. Then, we examine whether CEO structural power simultaneously increases the level and variability of firm performance. Next, we investigate whether and how CEO structural power mediates the effects of CEO overconfidence on a firm's performance. Our samples include listed Chinese firms. Our results demonstrate that CEO overconfidence significantly reduces the levels of a firm's total profitability, shareholder profitability and stock performance and significantly raises the volatilities of a firm's total profitability and shareholder profitability. Finally, CEO structural power from duality strengthens the negative effects of CEO overconfidence on the levels of a firm's stock performance, and CEO power from a founder (duality) exacerbates the effects of CEO overconfidence on the volatilities of a firm's stock performance (total profitability). However, CEO power from a CEO's relative compensation share reinforces his or her incentives to increase the beneficial effect of CEO overconfidence on the levels of a firm's total profitability and shareholder profitability and to weaken the effects of CEO overconfidence on the volatilities of shareholder profitability. Our results help Chinese authorities develop policies regarding the supervision of a firm's CEO overconfidence and power. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The influence of chief executive officer (CEO) power on innovation has only briefly been the subject of study thus far creating a need for further exploration. The purpose of this research is to provide more evidence of the impact of CEO power on innovation as a business strategy. We also address the moderating effect that national culture has on the relationship between CEO power and innovation. The Thomson Reuters database provided the data for this research. The cohort of firms represents different countries, specifically, a sample of firms from 37 countries. To estimate the model, we used the generalised method of moments (GMM) procedure, an estimator that allows the researcher to control for unobservable heterogeneity and endogeneity. GMM also attenuates estimation bias. Our findings reveal that CEO power has a positive effect on innovation. In turn, the dimensions of national culture used here do not have the same moderating effect on the relationship between CEO power and innovation. Power distance and uncertainty avoidance negatively moderate the positive association between CEO power and innovation; individualism and indulgence reinforce the positive effect of CEO power on innovation; masculinity and long‐term orientation do not affect the relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We contribute to the literature on dividend policy by considering two largely ignored, yet important factors, namely CEO power and corporate risk management. We first disentangle CEO managerial ability from entrenchment - the two sources of leadership autonomy that are not normally distinguished in prior literature. Using UK (re)insurance data that allows us to objectively and reliably quantify risk management and to identify powerful stakeholders with monitoring incentives (e.g., shareholders and regulatory body), we find that risk management enables entrenched CEOs to increase dividends to avoid monitoring by shareholders without compromising financial resilience and increasing the risk of regulatory scrutiny. Further, we neither find the degree of CEO managerial ability nor its interaction with risk management to be related to dividends, suggesting that the competing incentives for talented CEOs to pay higher/lower level of dividends cancel out in cross-sectional tests. Nonetheless, we find that the signalling effects of dividends for future accounting earnings only exist in insurers with high ability CEOs. This is consistent with the view that talented CEOs are able to generate sustainable earnings, and when they choose to pay (more) dividends, they do so to externally signal their managerial ability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invention patents are of great importance to firms, and thus understanding how invention patents are achieved is becoming increasingly important in the literature. Although previous research has shown that both CEO career horizon and CEO power are important for invention patents, little attention has been paid to their potential interactive effect. Investigating their interactive effect would be both theoretically meaningful and practically valuable. Using a sample of firms listed on the A-share market of the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges from 2010 to 2022, it is found that there is an interactive effect between CEO career horizon and CEO power, and that their interaction has a negative impact on invention patents. Furthermore, the interactive effect varies across different kinds of firms. This paper contributes to the literature on upper echelons theory by highlighting the interactive effects of multiple CEO characteristics on firm innovation.

This research examines the influence of the CEO's competitive aggressiveness on the firm's relative R&D investment behaviour. The authors propose that the CEO's competitive aggressiveness positively impacts the firm's relative R&D investment. Furthermore, this relationship is moderated by the CEO's power and top management team (TMT) output orientation function. The findings from a sample of 306 publicly listed A&B category BSE Indian firms between 2008 and 2015 provide considerable support for these hypotheses. These findings have important implications for managers, board members, and researchers interested in the antecedents of the firm's R&D management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]