Managerial Overconfidence and Corporate Debt Decisions: A Meta-analysis of the Moderating Role of Demographic Characteristics

Our analysis follows the PRISMA protocol to ensure both methodological rigor and research transparency. This research examines the impact of executive overconfidence on corporate debt decisions. It also examines the impact of different moderate variables including age, gender, education and tenure. A systematic search of the Scopus and Web of Science (WOS) databases identified relevant, high-quality, peer-reviewed literature on the topic. The search included 12,340 observations from 27 selected studies that met the defined inclusion and exclusion criteria. We used Comprehensive Meta-Analysis (CMA) software to process the data using a random-effects model that accounts for study diversity and context. The analyses show significant variability across studies (I² = 82%). The relationship between CEO overconfidence and debt requires further and more in-depth research to fully understand the influence of macroeconomic variables, sectoral characteristics, and governance systems. Researchers should integrate behavioral finance and modern analytical approaches into institutional and governance frameworks, while also investigating understudied variables, including cultural dimensions.