Does Navigating Adversity Call for Experienced Hands? Executive Composition and Compensation During the U.S.–China Trade War

Part of the Lubar Research Seminar Series

Speaker:  Jagadeesh Sivadasan, University of Michigan

Leveraging the unanticipated increases in US tariffs initiated in 2018, we examine how Chinese firms altered the composition and compensation of their executive team to manage adversity. Firms that faced more adverse US tariff shocks increased the proportion of executives with overseas experience, especially of those with marketing expertise and with a European background. Such executives received greater equity-based compensation, suggesting a higher return to their effort. We find suggestive evidence that these executives help maintain higher overseas revenue, and help create more and larger foreign subsidiaries. The stock market reacted more negatively to the unexpected departures of executives with foreign experience in the trade conflict period. The results suggest that executive human capital played an important role in coping with adverse trade shocks.