A new working paper has found that chief executives in corporate America are being appointed at significantly older ages than in previous decades, signaling a structural shift in how firms evaluate leadership talent in an increasingly complex business environment.
The study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, documents that the age at which CEOs are appointed has risen sharply over the past several decades. The increase is not uniform across the corporate landscape, but largely concentrated outside the largest listed firms, where CEO selection patterns have changed more dramatically.
