Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vsgnj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-23T13:28:49.191Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Top Management Human Capital, Inventor Mobility, and Corporate Innovation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  15 November 2018

Abstract

Using panel data on top management characteristics and a management quality factor constructed using common factor analysis on individual management quality measures, we analyze the relation between top firm management quality and corporate innovation input and output. We show that top management quality is an important determinant of corporate innovation, with individual aspects of management quality affecting innovation in younger and older firms differently. Further, firms with higher top management quality engage in more risky (“explorative”) innovation strategies. Finally, hiring more and higher-quality inventors is an important channel through which firms with higher management quality achieve greater innovation output.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Michael G. Foster School of Business, University of Washington 2018 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Footnotes

1

We thank Paul Malatesta (the editor) and an anonymous referee for several valuable comments that helped to greatly improve this paper. We are grateful for comments and suggestions from Kee H. Chung, Marcia Millon Cornett, Michael Ewens, Chinmoy Ghosh, Joseph Golec, Shantaram Hegde, Sahn-Wook Huh, Brad Jordan, Andrew Karolyi, Mark Liu, Gustavo Manso, Alan Marcus, Kristina Minnick, Kartik Raman, Bob Taggart, Hassan Tehranian, Brian Wolfe, and Zhaoxia Xu; seminar participants at Boston College, Bentley University, the University of Kentucky, SUNY Buffalo, the University of Calgary, the University of Connecticut, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University; and conference participants at the 2015 PBC-RFS conference on “Entrepreneurial Finance and Innovation around the World,” the 2015 Financial Management Association Annual Meeting, and the 2016 American Finance Association Meetings in San Francisco.

References

Acemoglu, D., and Autor, D.. “Lectures in Labor Economics.” Available at   http://economics.mit.edu/files/4689 (2011).Google Scholar
Adams, R. B.; Almeida, H.; and Ferreira, D.. “Powerful CEOs and Their Impact on Corporate Performance.” Review of Financial Studies, 18 (2005), 14031432.Google Scholar
Aghion, P.; Van Reenen, J.; and Zingales, L.. “Innovation and Institutional Ownership.” American Economic Review, 103 (2013), 277304.Google Scholar
Atanassov, J.Do Hostile Takeovers Stifle Innovation? Evidence from Antitakeover Legislation and Corporate Patenting.” Journal of Finance, 68 (2013), 10971131.Google Scholar
Balsmeier, B.; Fleming, L.; and Manso, G.. “Independent Boards and Innovation.” Journal of Financial Economics, 123 (2017), 536557.Google Scholar
Becker, G. S. Human Capital: A Theoretical and Empirical Analysis, with Special Reference to Education. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press (1964).Google Scholar
Ben-Porath, Y.The Production of Human Capital and the Life Cycle of Earnings.” Journal of Political Economy, 75 (1967), 352365.Google Scholar
Bernstein, S.Does Going Public Affect Innovation?Journal of Finance, 70 (2015), 13651403.Google Scholar
Bertrand, M., and Schoar, A.. “Managing with Style: The Effect of Managers on Firm Policies.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118 (2003), 11691208.Google Scholar
Bishara, N. D.; Martin, K. J.; and Thomas, R. S.. “An Empirical Analysis of Noncompetition Clauses and Other Restrictive Postemployment Covenants.” Vanderbilt Law Review, 68 (2015), 151.Google Scholar
Bloom, N., and Van Reenen, J.. “Measuring and Explaining Management Practices across Firms and Countries.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 122 (2007), 13511408.Google Scholar
Brav, A.; Jiang, W.; Ma, S.; and Tian, X.. “How Does Hedge Fund Activism Reshape Corporate Innovation?Journal of Financial Economics, 130 (2018), 237264.Google Scholar
Chemmanur, T. J., and Jiao, Y.. “Dual Class IPOs: A Theoretical Analysis.” Journal of Banking and Finance, 36 (2012), 305319.Google Scholar
Chemmanur, T. J.; Kong, L.; Krishnan, K.; and Yu, Q.. “Human Capital, Management Quality, and Firm Performance.” Working Paper, Boston College (2017).Google Scholar
Chemmanur, T. J.; Loutskina, E.; and Tian, X.. “Corporate Venture Capital, Value Creation, and Innovation.” Review of Financial Studies, 27 (2014), 24342473.Google Scholar
Chemmanur, T. J., and Paeglis, I.. “Management Quality, Certification, and Initial Public Offerings.” Journal of Financial Economics, 76 (2005), 331368.Google Scholar
Chemmanur, T. J.; Paeglis, I.; and Simonyan, K.. “Management Quality, Financial and Investment Policies, and Asymmetric Information.” Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 44 (2009), 10451079.Google Scholar
Chemmanur, T. J.; Paeglis, I.; and Simonyan, K.. “Management Quality and Antitakeover Provisions.” Journal of Law and Economics, 54 (2011), 651692.Google Scholar
Chemmanur, T. J., and Tian, X.. “Do Antitakeover Provisions Spur Corporate Innovation? A Regression Discontinuity Analysis.” Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 53 (2018), 11631194.Google Scholar
Cohen, L.; Frazzini, A.; and Malloy, C.. “The Small World of Investing: Board Connections and Mutual Fund Returns.” Journal of Political Economy, 116 (2008), 951979.Google Scholar
Custodio, C.; Ferreira, M. A.; and Matos, P. P.. “Do General Managerial Skills Spur Innovation?Management Science, 65 (2019), 459476.Google Scholar
Eberhart, A. C.; Maxwell, W. F.; and Siddique, A. R.. “An Examination of Long-Term Abnormal Stock Returns and Operating Performance Following R&D Increases.” Journal of Finance, 59 (2004), 623650.Google Scholar
Ederer, F., and Manso, G.. “Is Pay for Performance Detrimental to Innovation?Management Science, 59 (2013), 14961513.Google Scholar
Engelberg, J.; Gao, P.; and Parsons, C. A.. “The Price of a CEO’s Rolodex.” Review of Financial Studies, 26 (2013), 79114.Google Scholar
Ewens, M., and Marx, M.. “Founder Replacement and Startup Performance.” Review of Financial Studies, 31 (2018), 15321565.Google Scholar
Ewens, M., and Rhodes-Kropf, M.. “Is a VC Partnership Greater Than the Sum of Its Partners?Journal of Finance, 70 (2015), 10811113.Google Scholar
Faleye, O.; Hoitash, R.; and Hoitash, U.. “The Costs of Intense Board Monitoring.” Journal of Financial Economics, 101 (2011), 160181.Google Scholar
Ferreira, D.; Manso, G.; and Silva, A. C.. “Incentives to Innovate and the Decision to Go Public or Private.” Review of Financial Studies, 27 (2014), 256300.Google Scholar
Finkelstein, S., and Hambrick, D. C.. Top Executives and Their Effects on Organizations. Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN: West (1996).Google Scholar
Gardner, H.Frame of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences.” New York, NY: Basic Books (1983).Google Scholar
Garmaise, M. J.Ties That Truly Bind: Noncompetition Agreements, Executive Compensation, and Firm Investment.” Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, 27 (2011), 376425.Google Scholar
Griliches, Z.Patent Statistics as Economic Indicators: A Survey.” Journal of Economic Literature, 28 (1990), 16611707.Google Scholar
Griliches, Z.; Pakes, A.; and Hall, B. H.. “The Value of Patents as Indicators of Inventive Activity.” NBER Working Paper No. 2083 (1988).Google Scholar
Gu, F.Innovation, Future Earnings, and Market Efficiency.” Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, 20 (2005), 385418.Google Scholar
Hall, B. H.; Jaffe, A. B.; and Trajtenberg, M.. “The NBER Patent Citation Data File: Lessons, Insights and Methodological Tools.” NBER Working Paper No. 8498 (2001).Google Scholar
Hirshleifer, D.; Hsu, P.-H.; and Li, D.. “Innovative Efficiency and Stock Returns.” Journal of Financial Economics, 107 (2013), 632654.Google Scholar
Hirshleifer, D.; Low, A.; and Teoh, S. H.. “Are Overconfident CEOs Better Innovators?Journal of Finance, 67 (2012), 14571498.Google Scholar
Hirshleifer, D., and Thakor, A. V.. “Managerial Conservatism, Project Choice, and Debt.” Review of Financial Studies, 5 (1992), 437470.Google Scholar
Kaplan, S. N.; M. M. Klebanov; and M. Sorensen. “Which CEO Characteristics and Abilities Matter?Journal of Finance, 67(2012), 9731007.Google Scholar
Kogan, L.; Papanikolaou, D.; Seru, A.; and Stoffman, N.. “Technological Innovation, Resource Allocation, and Growth.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 132 (2017), 665712.Google Scholar
Lanjouw, J. O., and Schankerman, M.. “Patent Quality and Research Productivity: Measuring Innovation with Multiple Indicators.” Economic Journal, 114 (2004), 441465.Google Scholar
Lerner, J.The Importance of Patent Scope: An Empirical Analysis.” RAND Journal of Economics, 25 (1994), 319333.Google Scholar
Lerner, J.; Sorensen, M.; and Strömberg, P.. “Private Equity and Long-Run Investment: The Case of Innovation.” Journal of Finance, 66 (2011), 445477.Google Scholar
Lerner, J., and Wulf, J.. “Innovation and Incentives: Evidence from Corporate R&D.” Review of Economics and Statistics, 89 (2007), 634644.Google Scholar
Li, G.-C.; Lai, R.; D’Amour, A.; Doolin, D. M.; Sun, Y.; Torvik, V. I.; Yu, A. Z.; and Fleming, L.. “Disambiguation and Co-Authorship Networks of the U.S. Patent Inventor Database (1975–2010).” Research Policy, 43 (2014), 941955.Google Scholar
Malmendier, U., and Tate, G.. “CEO Overconfidence and Corporate Investment.” Journal of Finance, 60 (2005), 26612700.Google Scholar
Malsberger, B. M.Covenants Not to Compete: A State-by-State Survey.” Washington, DC: BNA (2004).Google Scholar
Manso, G.Motivating Innovation.” Journal of Finance, 66 (2011), 18231860.Google Scholar
Marx, M.; Strumsky, D.; and Fleming, L.. “Mobility, Skills, and the Michigan Non-Compete Experiment.” Management Science, 55 (2009), 875889.Google Scholar
Rajan, R. G., and Zingales, L.. “Financial Dependence and Growth.” American Economic Review, 88 (1998), 559586.Google Scholar
Sah, R. K., and Stiglitz, J. E.. “The Architecture of Economic Systems: Hierarchies and Polyarchies.” American Economic Review, 76 (1986), 716727.Google Scholar
Sah, R. K., and Stiglitz, J. E.. “The Quality of Managers in Centralized versus Decentralized Organizations.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 106 (1991), 289295.Google Scholar
Sapra, H.; Subramanian, A.; and Subramanian, K. V.. “Corporate Governance and Innovation: Theory and Evidence.” Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, 49 (2014), 9571003.Google Scholar
Seru, A.Firm Boundaries Matter: Evidence from Conglomerates and R&D Activity.” Journal of Financial Economics, 111 (2014), 381405.Google Scholar
Sørensen, J. B., and Stuart, T. E.. “Aging, Obsolescence, and Organizational Innovation.” Administrative Science Quarterly, 45 (2000), 81112.Google Scholar
Spiegel, M. I., and Tookes, H.. “Identifying an IPO’s Impact on Rival Firms.” Working Paper, Yale University (2016).Google Scholar
Stein, J. C.Takeover Threats and Managerial Myopia.” Journal of Political Economy, 96 (1988), 6180.Google Scholar
Stein, J. C.Efficient Capital Markets, Inefficient Firms: A Model of Myopic Corporate Behavior.” Quarterly Journal of Economics, 104 (1989), 655669.Google Scholar
Tian, X., and Wang, T. Y.. “Tolerance for Failure and Corporate Innovation.” Review of Financial Studies, 27 (2014), 211255.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Chemmanur et al. supplementary material

Chemmanur et al. supplementary material 1

Download Chemmanur et al. supplementary material(File)
File 329.3 KB