CEO Characteristics and Stock Price Crash Risk: A Meta-Analysis Approach

Ghazaleh Barzegar; Ahmad Ahmadi; Habibollah Nakhaei; Karim Nakhaei

Authors

Ghazaleh Barzegar Department of Accounting, Bi.C., Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6454-0864
Ahmad Ahmadi Department of Accounting, Bi.C., Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9405-8443
Habibollah Nakhaei Department of Accounting, Bi.C., Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0363-8179
Karim Nakhaei Department of Accounting, Bi.C., Islamic Azad University, Birjand, Iran Author https://orcid.org/0009-0001-2675-3778

Keywords:

Stock Price Crash Risk, CEO Characteristics, CEO Overconfidence, Managerial Ability, CEO Power, CEO Age, CEO Gender, Meta, Analysis

Abstract

Purpose: This study employs a meta-analytic approach to synthesize and reconcile the inconsistent empirical evidence regarding the association between CEO characteristics and stock price crash risk. Specifically, the analysis focuses on five key CEO attributes: overconfidence, managerial ability, power, age, and gender.

Method: Following the meta-analytic framework proposed by Lipsey and Wilson (2001), effect sizes were extracted and synthesized from 57 empirical studies, comprising 19 domestic studies published between 2015 and 2023 and 38 international studies published between 2015 and 2025. Stock price crash risk served as the dependent variable, while CEO characteristics constituted the independent variables. The robustness and validity of the meta-analytic estimates were assessed using Cochran's Q test for heterogeneity, Egger's regression test for publication bias, leave-one-out sensitivity analysis, and other conventional meta-analytic diagnostic procedures.

Findings: The results reveal significant positive associations between CEO overconfidence, CEO power, and CEO gender and stock price crash risk. In contrast, no statistically significant relationship is observed between managerial ability or CEO age and stock price crash risk.

Conclusion: The meta-analytic evidence demonstrates that CEO-specific behavioral and governance attributes—particularly overconfidence, power, and gender—constitute important determinants of stock price crash risk. These findings underscore the importance of incorporating CEO characteristics into corporate risk assessment, corporate governance mechanisms, executive selection processes, and investment decision-making, thereby contributing to improved risk management and greater informational efficiency in capital markets.

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