A meta-frontier analysis of the impact of CEO education on the performance of software startups

This study researches the influence of CEO educational backgrounds on the technical efficiency (TE) of software startups. Employing stochastic frontier analysis (SFA) and meta-frontier analysis (MFA), data encompassing 199 software companies are examined. Findings present a dichotomy; companies led by non-engineer CEOs demonstrate higher TE in SFA, whereas the production function of companies led by CEOs with an engineering background tend to approach the meta-frontier more closely in MFA. Moreover, this study underscores that CEO educational backgrounds profoundly impact a company’s performance, reinforcing the significant role of CEOs in smaller enterprises.