This study explores optimal portfolio management contracts in the context of ‘opaque' portfolios invested in illiquid or privately held assets. We identify shortcomings of linear contracts in this context and demonstrate that the second-best optimal contract features a convex component. The...

We model the employee incentive problem jointly with a firm's exit decision. Our model predicts that firms in industries where human capital is important are more likely to go public and use high-powered stock-based compensation. We also show that the higher the management quality, the more...

This article analyzes optimal nonlinear portfolio management contracts. We consider a setting in which the investor faces moral hazard with respect to the effort and risk choices of the portfolio manager. The employment contract promises the manager: (i) a fixed payment, (ii) a proportional...