| Variable | Variable definition |
| Main variables of interest |
|
| Foreign_experience | Dummy variable that equals 1 if the CEO has been gone abroad to work or study, otherwise equals 0. |
| Risk | The standard deviation of i firm’s industry-adjusted ROA over the rolling window over future 5 years |
| Control variables |
|
| Age | The age of the current CEO of i firm. |
| Gender | Dummy variable that equals one if the CEO is a woman, or equals 0 if the CEO is a man. |
| Degree | The education level of CEO: technical secondary school and below = 1, junior college = 2, bachelor degree = 3, master degree = 4, doctor degree = 5. |
| Firm_age | Reporting period year t minus the company establish year. |
| Size | Natural log of 1 plus the number of total asset book value in year t. |
| Growth | The percentage increase in sales (operating income) from year t − 1 to year t. |
| Tangibility | The ratio of tangible to total assets, where total net tangible assets equals total assets minus net intangible assets minus net goodwill |
| Tobin’Q | The ratio of the market value of an enterprise to the replacement cost of its assets |
| MB | The market value of the firm is divided by the book value of assets. |
| Cash_flow | Net profit + finance costs - (Total assets) current change + (Monetary funds) current change - (Total liabilities) current change - (Cash received from absorption of equity investments - cash paid for distribution of dividends, profits or repayment of interest). unit: billion yuan. |
| Separation | The ratio of the difference between control right and ownership for the ultimate controlling owner. |
| Top1 | The equity ratio of the first largest shareholder |
| Managerholding | The equity ratio of the general manager |
| FemaledirectRatio | The ratio of female directors to director |
| Other variables |
|
| SOE | Dummy variable which values 1 if the firm is a state-owned enterprise. |
| Duality | Dummy variable that equals 1 if the CEO is the chairman of the board, otherwise equal 0. |
| RDExpenses | Amount of capitalized research and development (R & D) expenditure, in units of billion yuan |
| Christian colleges | | Number of Christian founded universities (during 1901-1920) in the province of the CEO’s birthplace |
| British settlement | Dummy variable that equals 1 if province of birthplace to CEO have a British colony or concession colony during the late Qing Dynasty period which include Xiamen, Fujian. Hankow, Hubei. Jiujiang, Jiangxi. Zhenjiang, Jiangsu. Guangzhou, Guangdong. Weihaiwei, Shandong. Tianjin. Shanghai. |