Peers’ performance and sensitivity of investment to peers’ stock price: Examining the moderating role of CEO overconfidence

Abstract

This study explores how firms adjust their investment based on their peers’ stock prices. I theorize that peer firms with superior performance are more influential on focal firms, which makes firms’ investments more sensitive to the stock prices of good-performing peer firms than to the stock prices of poor-performing peer firms. Meanwhile, overconfident CEOs are more likely to choose firms with better performance as their peer firms and adjust their investments based on the stock prices of good-performing peers. The empirical results show that a firm’s investments are more responsive to the stock prices of good-performing peers than to those of poor-performing peers, particularly among firms with overconfident CEOs. The results suggest that CEO overconfidence affects peer group selection.