Unravelling the Impact of Executive Confidence on Firm Profitability

The focus of this research is on the Upper Echelon Theory, asserting that CEO&’s cognitive attributes exert a major effect on organizational outcomes. The present study adds to the behavioural finance and strategic management literature by investigating the association between Chief Executive Officer&’s (CEO) confidence and firm profitability in the Indian context. A sample of S&P BSE 100 Indian firms for five financial years has been used to examine the aforementioned relationship, using panel regression analysis. The findings reveal that CEO overconfidence favourably impacts the company&’s profitability as overconfident CEOs enjoy the early mover advantage in the market through quick and innovative decisions and gain competitive strength by overinvesting in good but risky projects. These findings contribute novel insights to the existing literature by exploring the most prevalent managerial behavioural bias and its impact on corporate profitability in the Indian context. The analysis may assist the policymakers responsible for framing recruitment and compensation policies and developing an optimum monitoring system to capitalize on the cognitive traits of top executives in India.