Turnover threat and CEO risk-taking behavior in the banking industry

We examine how the threat of turnover affects bank CEOs' risk-taking behavior. Using a sample of 212 U.S. banks from 1995 to 2010, in contrast with prior studies focusing on non-banking firms, we find a non-monotonic relationship between CEO turnover threat and CEO risk-taking behavior in the banking industry. Bank CEOs increase their risk-taking when the perceived turnover threat is moderate but reduce risk-taking when turnover threat is more imminent. This effect tends to concentrate on banks with a majority of independent directors.