20578: Why Conservative CEOs are More Long-term Oriented Than Their Liberal Peers (session 25723)

Extant evidence on the firm-level implications of CEOs’ political ideology gave rise to the suggestion that conservative-leaning CEOs may be more short-term oriented than their liberal-leaning counterparts. Yet, these suggestions derive from generalizations of their divergent embrace of egalitarian and pro-social values and may thus fail to reflect the broader temporal preferences guiding the numerous less value-laden strategic decisions that CEOs make. We therefore introduce the integrative model of personality to the upper echelons realm and argue that the unique personality profiles associated with conservatism and liberalism should induce liberal and conservative-leaning CEOs to exhibit preferences toward the future that run opposite to prior suggestions. Specifically, we argue that the conscientious planning and self-control associated with conservatism and the openness and enthusiasm for novel opportunities associated with liberalism should ultimately unfold in conservative-leaning CEOs exhibiting a longer-term orientation than their liberal-leaning counterparts. We find support for these arguments along a series of future-oriented strategic behaviors tested in a panel of S&P 1500 companies.

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