We analyse the combined effects of bargaining power, managerial ability/effort, and risk-taking strategies on the choice of hedge fund (HF) incentive contracts, and hedge fund performance. In our model, the HF manager and outside investors first negotiate over the type of contract (asymmetric or...

The traditional view on CEO pay suggests that the use of equity-based incentives (e.g., stocks and options) should increase when stock prices become more informative about managerial action. In this paper, we show this is only true in the relative sense, when comparing with CEOs'...

The literature posits that some CEO overconfidence benefits shareholders, though high levels may not. We argue adequate controls and independent viewpoints provided by an independent board mitigates the costs of CEO overconfidence. We use the concurrent passage of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and...

We identify the power of institutional blockholders to influence management using previous occurrences of forced CEO turnover at other firms in the blockholders' overall portfolio. We create a “powerful blockholder linkage” measure that strongly predicts future forced CEO turnover. These...

We show that the allocation of managerial ownership to individuals within firms varies depending upon the joint distribution of decision control and decision management rights. Using a unique dataset of institutional investment management firms, we show that ownership is higher for managers:...

This paper solves the dynamic investment problem of a risk averse agent compensated with a performance related bonus plus a salary guaranteed up to a certain level of underperformance. The main contribution is to explicitly take into account the financial fragility of the principal [employer],...

We study the effect of outside block-ownership on the future firm-specific crash-risk of Indian firms. Major and dedicated block-owners play a significant role in aggravating the firm's susceptibility towards crash-risk. Within a novel regulatory setup in India, where borrowing firms are...

Prior literature examines the matching of firm-types with board composition, but very little research focuses on the matching of CEO types with directors' skill sets. We examine whether a gender-diverse board helps to mitigate the negative impacts of overconfident managers, thus improving firm...

We show that managerial learning from stock prices can lead to feedback loop vulnerability: liquidity-induced trading can impose a negative externality on the firm's investment decisions, inducing liquidity unconstrained investors to sell their stock holdings. Interestingly, overconfident...

While boards are known to react to corporate misconduct by removing the executives responsible, little is known about whether the board's response is shaped by the firm's social context. Using the 2006 stock option backdating scandal, in which firms manipulated stock option grant dates, we...