Turnover at the top: Demographic diversity as determinant of executive turnover in the Netherlands

The current study examines diversity-related causes of executive turnover. Based on an integration of schneider’s (1987) asa model and pfeffer’s (1983) organizational demography theory, it is hypothesized that individual demographic dissimilarity and team-level demographic heterogeneity are positively related to individual executive turnover. Results indicate that individual dissimilarity in age and tmt tenure are solid predictors of individual executive turnover. Furthermore, our test of cross-level hypotheses shows that a high degree of heterogeneity within the team does not increase the likelihood of individual executive turnover if individual dissimilarities are taken into account. The study reinforces the importance of top team demographic composition in explaining executive turnover.