For 174 large Japanese corporations during 1992-1996, we find that top executive pay is higher in firms with weaker corporate governance mechanisms, controlling for standard economic determinants of pay. We use management ownership and family control (“the ownership mechanisms”), and...

This study examines changes in CEOs' incentive to manage their firms' earnings during their tenure as CEO. We show that earnings are more likely to be overstated in the early years than in the later years of CEOs' service, and that this association is weaker for firms with greater institutional...