The Effects of CEO Confidence on Corporate Financial Decision Makings in Korean Chaebols : Using Text Mining and Panel Analysis
Jung-won Choi
Sekyung Oh
Confidence of CEO is an important factor, but over-confidence of CEO can result in adverse effects on corporate financial decision makings. The study aims to analyze the impact of CEO confidence on corporate financial decisions and financial performance in Korean Chaebols. First, we measure ¡®CEO confidence¡¯ by analyzing media articles about both CEOs and corporations of Korean Chaebols with a text mining technique. Second, we use the CEO confidence as an explanatory variable in panel regression model to analyze its effects on key financial variables. We find the results supporting the hypothesis that CEOs with higher confidence in Korean Chaebols make active financial decisions to expand investments. In addition, we find that debt ratio also rises when CEOs show a higher confidence if previous (t-1) debt level is included as an independent variable. On the other hand, we find that future value of growth opportunity (Tobin's Q) and profitability (both are one year ahead) will deteriorate when CEOs show a higher confidence.