The Impact of Personal and Professional Characteristics of CEOs on Risk-Taking: Evidence from Russian Public Companies

Student: Khritantsev Maksim

Educational Programme: Economics (Bachelor)

Year of Graduation: 2017

This paper examines the role of personal and professional characteristics of CEOs on risk-taking. The research is based on Russian public companies. The paper uses the panel data model with random effects. While testing the impact of observed CEOs’ characteristics on various proxies for risk (stock earnings volatility, systematic risk, unsystematic risk, R&D spending and Altman Z-score) I have found the significant role of top-management’s education. CEOs who obtained a law degree are more capable of managing risk in the firm. Chief officers who got their education in science or engineering demonstrate lower risk levels. CEO who were studying economics and finance, conversely, tend to be more self-confident and take more risk. The number of degrees obtained also matters: CEOs who got a Master’s/MBA/PhD are less risk-averse. Tenure has an unclear, yet significant impact: its effect might be both positive or negative.

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