The chief financial officer (CFO) profile and R&D investment intensity: evidence from listed European companies

PurposeThis study aims to investigate whether the characteristics of the chief financial officer (CFO) have an impact on the intensity of the corporate research and development (R&D) investment.Design/methodology/approachBased on hand-collected data for the CFOs of a sample of the largest European listed companies for the period 2013–2016, this study uses regression analyses to test empirically the association of CFO education, CFO gender and CFO age with R&D investment intensity.FindingsThe presence of female CFOs, CFOs with a Master of Business Administration (MBA) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degree and older CFOs is positively associated with the intensity of R&D investment.Research limitations/implicationsThis study relies on some observable characteristics of CFOs and focuses on large listed companies.Practical implicationsThe results of this study may help investors, stakeholders and practitioners to understand better which type of CFO characteristics are more likely to result in higher firm-level R&D investment intensity.Originality/valueThis study offers the first insights into the impact of CFOs, as the most prominent C-suite executives, on the level of corporate investments in R&D activity.