Co-Worker Complemetarity and the Stability of Top Management Teams

We investigate the hypothesis that complementarities across co-workers (which may arise from matching or investments in specific skills) affect the value of employment relationships between senior executives and firms. We analyze the changes in the composition of top management teams when a key member of the team (the CEO) departs. Our empirical analysis establishes several facts that are consistent with co-worker complementarity being an important determinant of management team stability.