Through the eyes of the leader: CEO big five personality traits and financial reporting quality

IF 9.8 1区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS

Journal of Business Research Pub Date : 2025-08-20 DOI:10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115653

Shiqiang Chen , Yun Liu , Huijuan Cao , Albert Tsang

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Abstract

This study examines how CEOs’ Big Five personality traits collectively shape financial reporting quality (FRQ). We argue that the five traits, though conceptually distinct, jointly reflect a CEO’s communicative openness, which facilitates high-quality financial information production and dissemination. Using a principal component derived from text-based estimates of CEO personality traits, we find that higher scores are associated with a lower likelihood of financial restatements. We validate this component’s construct relevance by linking it to teamwork-oriented language in corporate disclosures and elevated employee and stakeholder engagement. Cross-sectional tests show that the effect of CEO Big Five personality traits on FRQ is stronger in firms with greater organizational complexity and higher external uncertainty, where transparent communication is critical. When agency costs are high, however, CEOs may exploit their communicative personalities to obfuscate information, thereby reducing FRQ. Overall, these findings highlight the pivotal role CEO personality plays in shaping organizational behavior and FRQ.

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从领导者的角度看：CEO五大人格特质与财务报告质量

本研究探讨了ceo的五大人格特质如何共同影响财务报告质量（FRQ）。我们认为，这五个特征虽然在概念上不同，但共同反映了CEO的沟通开放性，这有助于高质量的财务信息生产和传播。利用基于文本的CEO人格特征估计得出的主成分，我们发现得分越高，财务重述的可能性越低。我们通过将该组件与公司披露中的面向团队的语言联系起来，并提高员工和利益相关者的参与度，来验证该组件的构造相关性。横断面检验表明，在组织复杂性和外部不确定性较高的公司，CEO五大人格特质对FRQ的影响更强，透明的沟通是至关重要的。然而，当代理成本高时，首席执行官可能会利用他们的沟通个性来混淆信息，从而减少FRQ。总的来说，这些发现强调了CEO人格在塑造组织行为和FRQ方面的关键作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of Business Research BUSINESS-

CiteScore

20.30

自引率

10.60%

发文量

956

期刊介绍： The Journal of Business Research aims to publish research that is rigorous, relevant, and potentially impactful. It examines a wide variety of business decision contexts, processes, and activities, developing insights that are meaningful for theory, practice, and/or society at large. The research is intended to generate meaningful debates in academia and practice, that are thought provoking and have the potential to make a difference to conceptual thinking and/or practice. The Journal is published for a broad range of stakeholders, including scholars, researchers, executives, and policy makers. It aids the application of its research to practical situations and theoretical findings to the reality of the business world as well as to society. The Journal is abstracted and indexed in several databases, including Social Sciences Citation Index, ANBAR, Current Contents, Management Contents, Management Literature in Brief, PsycINFO, Information Service, RePEc, Academic Journal Guide, ABI/Inform, INSPEC, etc.