We study the problem of a firm that is controlled by a large shareholder and is going public in the presence of agency problems, asymmetric information, and trading of shares over time. In this multiperiod signalling game, a shareholder-manager can develop a reputation for expropriating low...

The threat of takeover acts to discipline managers, but it also makes shareholders' assurances to managers less reliable and so interferes with contrcting between them. These two effects have opposing implications about the level of executive compensation: the disciplinary effect implies a...