I develop a model of firm diversification into multiple product lines that is based on the agency problem between the firm's managers and owners. The agency relationship, together with a span-of-control managerial technology, determines an optimal firm size and degree of diversification that are...

A model is developed in which corporate spinoffs are a feature of incentive contracts for product managers in diversified firms. I argue that the possibility of a future spinoff can improve current incentives for divisional managers, even if a spinoff rarely actually occurs. Spinoff incentive...

Although psychologists view bonuses and penalties as very different means of providing incentives for workers, economists have had less success at making sense of the distinction. A rational worker should be indifferent as to whether a payment scheme is called a bonus or a penalty plan if the...

Under what circumstances will a successful incumbent in a related market be the first to enter a new market? We present a model in which the order of entry into new markets has long run effects on the firms' profits. We assume that a firm that is successfully producing in a related market has...

This article reconciles the psychological notion of bonuses and penalties as incentive devices with an economic view of incentives. An objective definition of bonus and penalty schemes is presented and shown to correspond to equilibria in a model of moral hazard and probabilistic monitoring. The...