CEO Narcissism, Executive Compensation and Firm Performance: Insight from Malaysia
| dc.contributor.author | Tong Hui-Hui | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-10-20T07:19:37Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2018 | |
| dc.description | In recent years, there is a growing interest among researches on how narcissistic CEOs impact the firms that they lead. Research has suggested that narcissistic leaders with characteristics of dominant, self-confident, grandiosity, and low empathy can both positively and negatively influence organizations. Interestingly, CEO personality relates to executive compensation as well. Further, previous psychology research suggested that firms with relatively higher compensated CEOs are more likely to make positive outcomes in the firm. Therefore, this research aims to examine the compensation mediation effect on the relationship between narcissism and firm performance for the 441 public listed companies in Malaysia. Thus, by examining particularly CEO’s narcissism, this research aims to deliver new approaches to scholars and regulators about the significance of CEO’s narcissism on firm performance. For the theoretical frameworks, Upper Echelons Theory and Agency Theory have been used in this research to measure the impacts of CEO narcissism and compensation towards firm performance. This research uses several measurements such as prominence of CEO’s photograph in the annual report, CEO’s prominence in the company’s press release and CEO’s publicity, CEO’s relative cash pay as proxies of CEO narcissism as the independent variable to determine firm performance, whereby firm size, firm age and leverage are the control variables and executive compensation acts as the mediator variable in this study. Meanwhile, the dependent variable is firm performance which is measured by accounting-based and market-based measures of firm performance. Using two approaches: TSLS and instrumental panel regression, the results show that executive compensation is partially mediating the relationship between CEO narcissism and firm performance. Therefore, this study proposes that narcissism does truly predict firm performance, however the relationship between narcissism and firm performance is mediated by an important aspect, which is executive compensation. This study also offers pathways on the selection of CEO personality trait in the contemporary business environment in Malaysia. In conclusion, the importance of CEO narcissism as a significant indicator of executive compensation and firm performance is certainly remarkable given its presumed dominance as a personality characteristic among the globe’s most influential executives and leaders. | |
| dc.identifier.uri | https://scholarhub.unimas.my/handle/123456789/3171 | |
| dc.language.iso | English | |
| dc.publisher | UNIVERSITI MALAYSIA SARAWAK | |
| dc.relation.ispartofseries | Faculty of Economics and Business | |
| dc.subject | Narcissism, executive compensation, firm performance, upper echelon theory | |
| dc.title | CEO Narcissism, Executive Compensation and Firm Performance: Insight from Malaysia | |
| dc.type | PhD |