Authors:

  • Raúl Duarte

Abstract

May 8, 2025, Article: CID Faculty Affiliate Raffaella Sadun and co-authors developed a new approach to studying how CEO behavior influences firm performance by collecting detailed time-use data from over 1,100 CEOs across six countries (Brazil, France, Germany, India, the United Kingdom, and the United States). Using machine learning, the authors classify CEOs into two behavioral types: "managers," who focus on operational and one-on-one tasks, and "leaders," who spend more time in high-level and multi-functional meetings with participants from inside and outside the firm together. They find that CEO behavior is predictive of firm performance—but that the match between CEO type and firm needs is what ultimately drives outcomes.