The executive compensation literature has explored the executive pay-for-performance relation in various contexts and reported mixed findings. As a result, the question of whether executive incentives, and particularly stock options, are effective continues to pose a puzzle to researchers. Gong...

This study explores the relationship between changes in managerial risk-taking incentives and adjustments of firms' cost structures, particularly the operating leverage (fixed-to-variable cost ratio). We find managers reduce operating leverage by substituting fixed costs with variable costs,...