I examine CEO compensation in outsourcing firms, using a new database of purchase obligations from firm 10-Ks. I find that the intensity of outsourcing can significantly explain the variations in CEO compensation; the more the firms do outsourcing, the more they pay to their CEOs. Outsourcing...

Why do some innovators freely reveal their intellectual property? This empirical puzzle has been a focal point of debate in the R&D literature. We show that innovators may share proprietary technology with rivals for free - even if it does not directly benefit them - to slow down competition. By...

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...

Summary of findings from analyzing pay and performance for FTSE100 companies from 2009-2011 (3 years). Performance is measured by indexed Total Shareholder Return and indexed Operating Cash Flow Growth. CEO total realized pay is used as the proxy pay metric. The research findings were discussed...

This paper is a summary of the findings of analyzing pay and performance for the largest 100 companies from 2009-2011 (3 years). Performance is measured by indexed Total Shareholder Return and indexed Operating Cash Flow Growth. CEO total realized pay is used as the pay metric. The research...

We model and empirically assess industry tournament incentives for CEOs. The measures we develop for the tournament prize derive from the compensation gap between the CEO at her firm and the highest-paid CEO among similar competing firms. The model predicts that firm performance and risk...

This paper investigates the effect of superstar CEOs on their competitors. Exploiting shocks to CEO status due to prestigious media awards, we document a significant positive stock market performance of competitors of superstar CEOs subsequent to the award. The effect is more pronounced for...

Career concerns can limit a manager’s willingness to take risks, which can lead to excessive policy conservatism. An increase in a CEO’s ability and willingness to change jobs (CEO mobility) can diversify her human capital and reduce her conservatism. We derive several CEO mobility measures...

This paper tests the proposition that higher tournament incentives will result in greater risk taking by senior managers in order to increase their chance of promotion to the rank of CEO. Measuring tournament incentives as the pay gap between the CEO and the next layer of senior managers, we...

Trademarking firms are more productive, generate higher profits, and have a better survival rate. Trademarking firms are in one word more successful, which might motivate non-trademarking firms to adopt a trademark strategy. But this seems not to be the case. The proportion of trademarking firms...