Below-aspiration performance and risk-taking behaviour in the context of Taiwanese electronic firms: a contingency analysis

This study combines the behavioural theory and the behavioural agency theory of the firm to investigate managerial risk-taking behaviour at times of below-aspiration performance and the influence of CEO structural power and earnings pressure on subsequent managerial behaviour. By employing the data of publicly listed Taiwanese electronic firms from the period of 2010-2018, this study found that firms tend to make risky choices when their performance is under the aspiration threshold. However, after this relationship was examined with contextual conditions, the study found that CEO structural power and earnings pressure moderate a firm's risk-taking positively and negatively, respectively. The configurational effect of the two moderators sheds further light on the interactive contextual settings, indicating that CEO structural power outweighs the moderating effect of earnings pressure.