Abstract
This paper examines whether the corporate decisions of S&P 500 CEOs are influenced by spousal risk preferences. We hand-collect data on the cultural origins of CEOs and their spouses to measure within-marriage transmission of cultural norms. We find that spousal risk preference influences a CEO’s attitude towards uncertainty and corporate risk-taking behavior. CEOs adopt relatively safer corporate policies if their spouses are relatively more risk averse, especially if they belong to collectivist cultures. Collectively, these findings suggest that the cultural composition of CEO household affects corporate decisions