Does CEO's foreign experience promote export performance? Evidence from China

Abstract

We examine whether CEOs with foreign experience influence firms' export performance. Using a combined dataset based on Chinese-listed firms from 2008 to 2021, we determine that hiring CEOs with foreign experience significantly enhances firms' export performance. In addition, we document that the positive relationship between CEOs' foreign experience and firms' export performance is more pronounced when CEOs have long-term foreign work experience. The impact of foreign experience on firms' export performance varies with CEOs' gender. Furthermore, the advantage of appointing CEOs with foreign experience is only significant when firms have long-time lifespan or receive intensive foreign direct investment. The results are robust to the endogenous CEO selection using instrument variable method, propensity score matching method, and the fixed-effects model. Accordingly, our findings offer policy implications by suggesting that hiring a CEO with foreign experience is an efficient way to improve firms' export performance.