We investigate the relationship between CEO centrality -- the relative importance of the CEO within the top executive team in terms of ability, contribution, or power -- and the value and behavior of public firms. Our proxy for CEO centrality is the fraction of the top-five compensation captured...

This paper examines both empirically and theoretically the growth of U.S. executive pay during the period 1993-2003. During this period, pay has grown much beyond the increase that could be explained by changes in firm size, performance and industry classification. Had the relationship of...

While prior empirical work and much public attention have focused on the opportunistic timing of executives' grants, we provide in this paper evidence that outside directors' option grants have also been favorably timed to an extent that cannot be fully explained by sheer luck. Examining events...

We study the relation between corporate governance and opportunistic timing of CEO option grants via backdating or otherwise. Our methodology focuses on how grant date prices rank within the price distribution of the grant month. During 1996-2005, about 12% of firms provided one or more lucky...

Thousands of US companies appear to have secretly backdated stock options. This paper analyzes three forms of secret option backdating: (1) the backdating of executives' option grants; (2) the backdating of non-executive employees' option grants; and (3) the backdating of executives' option...

The analysis of this paper was subsequently combined with that of our companion paper ldquo;Lucky CEOs,rdquo; lt;a href=quot;http://ssrn.com/abstract=945392quot; target=quot;_blankquot;gt;http://ssrn.com/abstract=945392lt;/agt;. The combined paper, titled ldquo;Lucky CEOs and Lucky...

The analysis of this paper was subsequently combined with that of our companion paper ldquo;Lucky Directors,rdquo; lt;a href=quot;http://ssrn.com/abstract=952239quot; target=quot;_blankquot;gt;http://ssrn.com/abstract=952239lt;/agt;. The combined paper, titled ldquo;Lucky CEOs and Lucky...

In a recent book, Pay without Performance: The Unfulfilled Promise of executive Compensation, we critique existing executive pay arrangements and the corporate governance processes producing them, and put forward proposals for improving both executive pay and corporate governance. This paper...

We investigate the relation between the CEO Pay Slice (CPS)mdash;the fraction of the aggregate compensation of the top-five executive team captured by the Chief Executive Officermdash;and the value, performance, and behavior of public firms. The CPS could reflect the relative importance of the...