Vaulting Ambition: Public Recognition and Managerial Behavior
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Series
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Speaker(s)Raghavendra Rau (University of Cambridge, United Kingdom)
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FieldFinance, Accounting and Finance
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LocationErasmus University Rotterdam, Campus Woudestein, Langeveld 5.06
Rotterdam -
Date and time
September 22, 2026
11:45 - 13:00
Abstract
Are managerial styles fixed, or can salient experiences alter how CEOs behave while in office? We study this question using CEO awards as public validation events and unscripted analyst Q&A transcripts from Chinese listed firms. Awards are followed by increased self-aggrandizing communication for some CEOs but little change for others. These realized responses strongly predict subsequent outcomes: High-Response CEOs experience worse stock performance, poorer disclosure, more adverse events, greater executive turnover, more acquisition activity, and less efficient innovation. The evidence suggests that managerial behavior has an economically important state-contingent component not fully captured by pre-existing CEO characteristics.