What Can We Learn From How a Manager Invests His Own Money?: “The authors also examine how other personal characteristics of the chief executive affect corporate investment decisions. Those with engineering or science backgrounds tend to be more sensitive to cash flow in making investments than those with a financial background. The chief executives who grew up in the Great Depression seem to be particularly influenced by cash on hand, perhaps because they developed a distrust of financial markets and a predilection for self-sufficiency as a result of their early experience.”