Using data that includes specific contractual details of Relative Performance Evaluation (RPE) contracts granted to … accounting performance and RPE awards of cash contingent on accounting performance convey the incentive to increase firm risk …

We find that firms that grant performance-contingent (p-c) equity awards with accounting-based vesting conditions to …

, have led to an increase in performance-contingent awards. A majority of these awards contain performance conditions tied … disclosure opaqueness, and proximity of earnings to performance thresholds. Results are robust to accounting for endogeneity in … performance-contingent awards. Our evidence suggests that recent trends in the structure and transparency of pay affect both the …