The role of managerial ability on operational performance and stock return moderated by CEO overconfidence

PURPOSE: This study aims to determine the effect of the acquisition company's managerial ability on the company's performance after mergers and acquisitions. CEO overconfidence was added as a moderating effect in this study. The sample data of this study include companies listed on the IDX that carried out corporate actions in the 2014-2018 period.METHODOLOGY: The sampling technique used is purposive sampling, and the data analysis method used is the SPSS and Smart PLS applications. This research used return-on-assets, cash flow from operations and market-to-book ratio to measeure the firm’s operational performance and buy-and-hold abnormal return to measure company’s stock return.FINDINGS: The results of this study indicate that managerial ability affects the firm’s operational performance. This study also shows that CEO overconfidence can strengthen the relationship between managerial ability and the firm’s operational performance along with the rate of the acquiring companies stock returns.ORIGINALITY/VALUE: The managerial implications of this study suggest that companies should prioritize CEO overconfidence in the fit-and-proper test. CEO overconfidence can bring the company forward and earn higher returns. Novelty in this study provides a new insight of corporate action that CEO overconfidence can moderate the relationship between managerial ability and the firm’s operational performance and the company's stock return.peer-reviewe