Сharacteristics of CEOs of Pharmaceutical Companies Influence on Efficiency due to OLC

The paper considers the impact of CEO characteristics on the company's financial performance at different stages of the life cycle. Return on assets (ROA) and Tobin's Q were used as indicators of financial efficiency. Three types of CEO characteristics were considered: demographic (gender; age), career (specialized education; CEO/Chairman duality; CEO insider; experience in the company), monetary (compansation link to total return of shareholders). The study was conducted on a sample of 64 pharmaceutical companies from different countries for the period 2010-2019. It was found that age and experience have a positive effect on financial performance. Gender does not have a significant impact. The CEO who holds the position of chairman of the board of directors has a positive impact on the Tobin's Q and ROA, while the CEO-insider is negatively perceived by the market and is not significant for the ROA. Having a specialized education does not affect the company's performance, which means that the CEO of a pharmaceutical company does not need to have a chemical, biological or medical education. The relationship between remuneration and total return has a positive effect only on the return on assets. The paper also considered the differences between CEOs depending on the stage of the company's life cycle. It was noted that the largest share of CEO-insiders and CEO-Chairman is observed in early-stage companies. Also, in the early stages, there are more managers with specialized education, which is explained by the fact that the founder of the company occupies the position of CEO.