CEO's age and acquisition behaviors of REITs

Abstract This paper examines how the investment activities of REITs are affected by the age of their CEOs. Tracking the property acquisition activities of 150 REIT CEOs between 1974 and 2017, we find robust evidence of younger CEOs engaging more frequently and spending more monies on property acquisitions. Our results are consistent with younger CEOs being motivated to acquire aggressively to signal their ability to the market. However, due to reputation and career concerns, younger CEOs tend to hedge their acquisition decisions by preferring local assets and following the herd mentality. Older CEOs may engage less frequently in property acquisitions, but this is not attributed to them slowing down. On the contrary, older CEOs appear to be more confident to venture into new and out‐of‐state markets and to engage in out‐of‐wave acquisitions.