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Why Do Firms Use Incentives That Have No Incentive Effects?

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Oyer, Paul (Stanford U)

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Abstract

This paper illustrates why firms might choose to implement stock option plans or other pay instruments that reward ``luck.'' I consider a model where adjusting compensation contracts is costly (or wages are rigid) and where agents' outside opportunities are correlated with their firms' performance. I derive conditions under which firms will pay based on firm performance, even when such pay schemes have little or no effect on agents' on-the-job behavior. I derive implications of the model and discuss how it may help explain the use and recent rise of broad-based stock option plans, profit sharing, and the lack of indexing in executive compensation contracts. The model can also help explain the popularity of such financial instruments as tracking stocks and certain venture capital funds. The model suggests that, while agency theory has focused on incentive compatibility, the often overlooked participation constraint can help explain some common compensation schemes.

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Paper provided by Stanford University, Graduate School of Business in its series Research Papers with number 1686.

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Date of creation: Apr 2001
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Handle: RePEc:ecl:stabus:1686

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  1. Marianne Bertrand & Sendhil Mullainathan, 2000. "Do CEOs Set Their Own Pay? The Ones Without Principals Do," NBER Working Papers 7604, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  2. Barro, Jason R & Barro, Robert J, 1990. "Pay, Performance, and Turnover of Bank CEOs," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 8(4), pages 448-81, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  3. Beaudry, Paul & DiNardo, John, 1991. "The Effect of Implicit Contracts on the Movement of Wages over the Business Cycle: Evidence from Micro Data," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 99(4), pages 665-88, August. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  4. Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 1996. "Endogenously Chosen Boards of Directors and Their Monitoring of the CEO," Working Papers _004, University of California at Berkeley, Haas School of Business. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Eric Rasmusen, 1987. "Moral Hazard in Risk-Averse Teams," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(3), pages 428-435, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. Alston, Lee J. & Higgs, Robert, 1982. "Contractual Mix in Southern Agriculture since the Civil War: Facts, Hypotheses, and Tests," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 42(02), pages 327-353, June. [Downloadable!]
  7. Card, David, 1986. "An Empirical Model of Wage Indexation Provisions in Union Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages S144-75, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Thomas, Jonathan & Worrall, Tim, 1988. "Self-enforcing Wage Contracts," Review of Economic Studies, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 55(4), pages 541-54, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  9. Robert Drago & John S. Heywood, 1994. "The Choice of Payment Schemes: Australian Establishment Data," Labor and Demography 9402001, EconWPA, revised 04 Feb 1994. [Downloadable!]
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  10. Patrick Legros & Steven A. Matthews, 1992. "Efficient and Nearly Efficient Partnerships," Discussion Papers 991R, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science. [Downloadable!]
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  11. Robert Gibbons & Kevin J. Murphy, 1990. "Relative performance evaluation for chief executive officers," Industrial and Labor Relations Review, ILR Review, ILR School, Cornell University, vol. 43(3), pages 30-51, February.
  12. Canice Prendergast, 1999. "The Provision of Incentives in Firms," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(1), pages 7-63, March. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  13. Milton Harris & Bengt Holmstrom, 1981. "A Theory of Wage Dynamics," Discussion Papers 488, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science. [Downloadable!]
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  14. Rajesh K. Aggarwal & Andrew A. Samwick, 1999. "Executive Compensation, Strategic Competition, and Relative Performance Evaluation: Theory and Evidence," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(6), pages 1999-2043, December. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  15. Bengt Holmstrom, 1982. "Moral Hazard in Teams," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 13(2), pages 324-340, Autumn. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  16. repec:fth:prinin:431 is not listed on IDEAS
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