Another trend in management education might moderate the relationship stated in
proposition 1. In developed countries, the share of university graduates among age groups
has substantially increased in the recent decades (e.g., European Commission, 2009).
Schäffer et al. (2008) also present data that confirms this development for CFOs. They show
that the 97% of the 2008 CFOs had enjoyed a university education, while only 83% of the
1998 CFOs were university graduates. Thus, although FBs place less emphasis on formal
education, they may also only hire university graduates today when hiring for their finance
and accounting functions, who may later develop into CFO candidates. Thus, when testing
proposition 1, it seems necessary to control for CFO age. Among older CFOs, in accordance
with proposition 1, less university graduates can be expected in FBs compared to NFBs, but
this relationship is likely to diminish or disappear for younger CFOs.