Busy CEOs and the performance of family firms

• We examine the link between the busyness of CEOs and the performance of family firms in India.
• The level of the CEO busyness has a negative effect on firm performance, measured by Tobin's q.
• The effect of the CEO busyness on Tobin's q is negative for small firms.
• The effect of the chairman busyness on Tobin's q is negative for large firms.
• The CEO/chairman busyness has a negative effect on Tobin's q in the high Tobin's q sample.

We provide evidence on the link between busyness of CEOs and/or chairmen and the performance of family firms in India. We show that the level of CEO busyness has a negative effect on firm performance, measured by Tobin's q. That is, the frequency of the CEO attending board meetings is positively associated with Tobin's q. We also find that the effect of CEO busyness on firm performance is not different between family firms with a family-member CEO/chairman and family firms with a non-family-member CEO/chairman. Our findings show that the effect of CEO busyness on Tobin's q is negative for small firms, and that the effect of chairman busyness on Tobin's q is negative for large firms. While the CEO/chairman busyness is not associated with Tobin's q in the low Tobin's q sample, it has a negative effect on Tobin's q in the high Tobin's q sample, implying that firms with better growth opportunities should be managed by less busy CEOs.