This paper explores performance measurement in incentive plans. Based on theory, we argue that differences in the nature of jobs between blue- and white-collar employees lead to differences in incentive systems. We find that performance measurement for white-collar workers is broader in terms of...

This paper provides a literature review about the impact of intangible assets on the design of corporate financial and governance policies. Intangible assets show a set of characteristics – namely, high levels of risk and uncertainty, firm-specificity, human capital intensity, low...

We use the agency theory to conduct a novel test of the strategic use of property insurance in China's corporate sector. With regard to our main test hypotheses, we find that the incidence of property insurance purchased is directly related to the degree of product-market competitiveness, and...

This paper proposes a principal-agent model of labour market discrimination. In this model, the firm manager is a taste-based discriminator and has to make unobservable hiring decisions that determine the shareholder’s profits, because workers differ in skill. The model shows that...

The recent financial crisis has accelerated the debate of executive remuneration. Theoretically, there are divergences between the design of executive remuneration suggested by agency theory and reality. In this study, we contribute to this debate by re-visiting the theories underlying the...

This study uses a sample of 213 Brazilian firms listed between 1995 and 2004 to examine the effect of the presence or absence of growth opportunities on the subsequent effect of leverage, dividend payout, and ownership concentration on firm value. First, we find that leverage plays a dual role:...

We explore how powerful CEOs manage the tax aggressiveness (TAG) of their firms. The agency view suggests that CEOs invest in TAG to enhance their own private benefits. On the contrary, the stream of corporate social responsibility theories argues that CEOs avoid investment in TAG as, although a...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to assess whether ownership concentration, leverage and demand for equity financing is associated with internal corporate governance quality. The paper focuses on dimensions of governance quality that are related to financial reporting quality....