The synergistic effects of chief executive officer (CEO) power and media sentiment on firm innovation investment

ABSTRACT

The chief executive officer (CEO) is the executive at the top of the firm's hierarchy and plays a significant role in the firm's investment in innovation and whose decision-making behaviour can be influenced by external contexts such as media coverage. This paper examines the synergistic effects of CEO power and media sentiment on firm investment in innovation. We use ordinary least squares regression to find that both CEO power and media sentiment significantly contribute to firm innovation investment and that there are significant synergies between them. This synergistic effect is stronger for firms with high levels of investment in innovation. This study extends research on CEO power, media sentiment, and firm innovation investment in emerging market contexts.

KEYWORDS:

• CEO power
• Media sentiment
• Innovative investment
• Synergistic influence

Acknowledgment

All authors thank the anonymous reviewers and editors for their helpful comments on the revision of this article.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Funding

The fund information in this paper is as follows: Soft Science Special Project of Gansu Basic Research Plan (23JRZA368; 23JRZA391); Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (FRF-TP-22-067A1);The China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (2023M730214).

Notes on contributors

Dongliang Yuan

Dongliang Yuan is a junior research fellow of School of Management of Lanzhou University. His current research interests include corporate governance, corporate innovation and corporate social responsibility. He has published, for example, in Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management, Managerial and Decision Economics, Economic Modelling, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade.

Duo Shang

Duo Shang is a lecturer of Economics and Management School of University of Science and Technology Beijing. Her current research interests include board governance and strategic management. She has published, for example, in Managerial and Decision Economics, Economic Modelling, Emerging Markets Finance and Trade, Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Technology Analysis & Strategic Management.

Milun Qian

Milun Qian is a Ph.D. candidate of Business School of University of International Business and Economics. Her current research interests include board governance and strategic management.

Lingling Pan

Lingling Pan is a Ph.D. candidate of Business School of Nankai University. Her current research interests include corporate governance and corporate innovation. She has published, for example, in Growth and Change, Managerial Auditing Journal.

Yan Li

Yan Li is a Ph.D. candidate of Business School of Nankai University. Her current research interests include corporate governance and corporate innovation. She has published, for example, in Technology Analysis & Strategic Management.