Do Christian CEOs make a difference? Empirical evidence from the S&P 500

  • Dan Slater
  • Robert Holbrook
  • Joseph Xu

Abstract

Little empirical work has been done on how Christian business leaders make a difference in the firms they lead, particularly in large publicly traded firms. This research draws on upper echelons theory, stewardship research, and scriptural principles, including the life of Joseph from the book Genesis, to argue that Christian CEOs are more likely to act as good stewards of the resources in their charge and in so doing will reap the positive benefits of stewardship for both their firms and themselves. We test our hypotheses on the S&P 500 CEOs and find supporting results suggesting that indeed Christian CEOs make a difference. 

Published
2022-12-12
Section
Articles