This note deals with the simplified case of a principal (e.g., a firm's board of directors) which delegates execution of an economic activity to a business unit (or a subsidiary firm) managed by a manager. It is assumed that the manager has no control over the cash flows injected into the unit...

Many firms use relative stock performance to evaluate and incentivize their CEOs. We provide evidence that these firms routinely disclose information that harms peers’ stock prices. Consistent with deliberate sabotage, peer-harming disclosures appear to be aimed at the peers whose stock price...

This research examines the valuation effect and the factors associated with firms' decisions to expense executive stock options, as well as determinants of market reaction to expensing announcements. The likelihood of expensing is found to be higher for firms subject to fewer agency problems and...

The paper examines the determinants and performance consequences of equity grants to senior-level executives, lower-level managers, and non-exempt employees of "new economy" firms. We find that the determinants of equity grants are significantly different in new versus old economy firms. We also...

The paper examines the determinants and performance consequences of equity grants to senior-level executives, lower-level managers, and non-exempt employees of "new economy" firms. We find that many of the equity grant determinants and their relative importance vary significantly between new and...

This paper finds that CEO stock options influence the choice, amount, and timing of funds distributed as a buyback. These results favor a managerial opportunism motive for buybacks over other theories and support two key research expectations - that buybacks impose option-induced agency costs on...

If managers are risk-averse and compensation schemes are not directly linked to shareholder wealth, incentives to allocate effort to manage effects of relative and macroeconomic shocks may be distorted. In this paper we develop a simple model to identify factors that determine the optimal...

We examine the impact of liquidity and diversification, taxes, and loss aversion on the informativeness of insider sales following stock option exercise. We do not find evidence of liquidity and diversification influencing post exercise sale decisions, suggesting that option related sales are...

One of the most puzzling aspects of executive compensation is the pay gap that exists between American and foreign Chief Executive Officers (CEOs). Commentators and the financial press have been quick to argue that such differences are the result of high agency costs, or "board capture," a...

Macroeconomic fluctuations such as interest rate and exchange rate can be considered sources of good or bad “luck” for corporate performance. Incentive effects of performance-based compensation for management may be weakened or biased by macroeconomic influences depending on the ability of...