IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v60y2020i4p3493-3526.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The unintended consequences of voluntary adoption of clawback provisions on managerial ability

Author

Listed:
  • Dina El Mahdy

Abstract

I investigate the impact of the voluntary adoption of clawback provisions on managerial ability and predict that clawback provisions will motivate managers to exert more efforts following the adoption of clawback and these efforts will be in the form of an increased managerial efficiency. Using a propensity score matched sample of firms, I find a significant positive association between voluntary clawback adoption and the change in both rank and score of managerial ability. My study highlights the unintended consequences of clawback provisions on CEO's behavior and contributes to the on‐going debate on the importance of proactively and carefully drafting clawback policies, further signifying the importance of the SEC's efforts (Rule 10D‐1) to enforce clawback policies.

Suggested Citation

  • Dina El Mahdy, 2020. "The unintended consequences of voluntary adoption of clawback provisions on managerial ability," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(4), pages 3493-3526, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:60:y:2020:i:4:p:3493-3526
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.12528
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.12528
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.12528?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Anna Bergman Brown & Paquita Y. Davis-Friday & Lale Guler & Carol Marquardt, 2015. "M&A Decisions and US Firms’ Voluntary Adoption of Clawback Provisions in Executive Compensation Contracts," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1-2), pages 237-271, January.
    2. Bok Baik & David B. Farber & Sam (Sunghan) Lee, 2011. "CEO Ability and Management Earnings Forecasts," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(5), pages 1645-1668, December.
    3. Song, Wei-Ling & Wan, Kam-Ming, 2019. "Does CEO compensation reflect managerial ability or managerial power? Evidence from the compensation of powerful CEOs," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 1-14.
    4. Eliezer M. Fich, 2005. "Are Some Outside Directors Better than Others? Evidence from Director Appointments by Fortune 1000 Firms," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 78(5), pages 1943-1972, September.
    5. Ford, Stephen A. & Shonkwiler, J. S., 1994. "The Effect of Managerial Ability on Farm Financial Success," Agricultural and Resource Economics Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 23(2), pages 150-157, October.
    6. Peter Demerjian & Baruch Lev & Sarah McVay, 2012. "Quantifying Managerial Ability: A New Measure and Validity Tests," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(7), pages 1229-1248, July.
    7. Roychowdhury, Sugata, 2006. "Earnings management through real activities manipulation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 335-370, December.
    8. Jonathan B. Berk & Richard Stanton, 2007. "Managerial Ability, Compensation, and the Closed‐End Fund Discount," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 62(2), pages 529-556, April.
    9. Kyung, Hangsoo & Lee, Hakyin & Marquardt, Carol, 2019. "The effect of voluntary clawback adoption on non-GAAP reporting," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(1), pages 175-201.
    10. Ed Dehaan & Frank Hodge & Terry Shevlin, 2013. "Does Voluntary Adoption of a Clawback Provision Improve Financial Reporting Quality?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1027-1062, September.
    11. Denis, Diane K., 2012. "Mandatory clawback provisions, information disclosure, and the regulation of securities markets," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 54(2), pages 197-200.
    12. Tim R. Holcomb & R. Michael Holmes Jr. & Brian L. Connelly, 2009. "Making the most of what you have: managerial ability as a source of resource value creation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 457-485, May.
    13. Avi Goldfarb & Mo Xiao, 2011. "Who Thinks about the Competition? Managerial Ability and Strategic Entry in US Local Telephone Markets," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(7), pages 3130-3161, December.
    14. Chen, Tsung-Kang & Liao, Hsien-Hsing & Chi, Cheng-Ming, 2014. "The economic consequences of regulatory changes in employee stock options on corporate bond holders: SFAS No.123R and structural credit model perspectives," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 381-394.
    15. Gan, Huiqi & Park, Myung Seok, 2016. "Are more able CEOs getting more compensated? Evidence from the pay-for-performance sensitivity of equity-based incentives," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 64-76.
    16. Fedaseyeu, Viktar & Linck, James S. & Wagner, Hannes F., 2018. "Do qualifications matter? New evidence on board functions and director compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 816-839.
    17. Marianne Bertrand & Antoinette Schoar, 2003. "Managing with Style: The Effect of Managers on Firm Policies," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(4), pages 1169-1208.
    18. Erkens, Michael H.R. & Gan, Ying & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2018. "Not all clawbacks are the same: Consequences of strong versus weak clawback provisions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(1), pages 291-317.
    19. (Xuefeng) Jiang, John & Petroni, Kathy R. & Yanyan Wang, Isabel, 2010. "CFOs and CEOs: Who have the most influence on earnings management?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 513-526, June.
    20. Sheikh, Shahbaz, 2018. "CEO power, product market competition and firm value," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 373-386.
    21. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    22. Cohen, Daniel A. & Zarowin, Paul, 2010. "Accrual-based and real earnings management activities around seasoned equity offerings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(1), pages 2-19, May.
    23. Yuk Ying Chang & Sudipto Dasgupta & Gilles Hilary, 2010. "CEO Ability, Pay, and Firm Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 56(10), pages 1633-1652, October.
    24. Hayes, Rachel M. & Schaefer, Scott, 1999. "How much are differences in managerial ability worth?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(2), pages 125-148, April.
    25. Mark A. Chen & Daniel T. Greene & James E. Owers, 2015. "The Costs and Benefits of Clawback Provisions in CEO Compensation," The Review of Corporate Finance Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 4(1), pages 108-154.
    26. DeFond, Mark L. & Park, Chul W., 1999. "The effect of competition on CEO turnover1," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(1), pages 35-56, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Patrick Velte, 2020. "Determinants and consequences of clawback provisions in management compensation contracts: a structured literature review on empirical evidence," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(3), pages 1417-1450, November.
    2. Huang, Xuerong (Sharon) & Sun, Li, 2017. "Managerial ability and real earnings management," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 91-104.
    3. Atawnah, Nader & Eshraghi, Arman & Baghdadi, Ghasan A. & Bhatti, Ishaq, 2024. "Managerial ability and firm value: A new perspective," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PB).
    4. Fang, Ming & Francis, Bill & Hasan, Iftekhar & Wu, Qiang, 2022. "External social networks and earnings management," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 54(2).
    5. Dina El Mahdy & Fatima Alali, 2023. "Female CFOs and managerial opportunism," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(3), pages 1161-1207, April.
    6. Dong, Feng & Doukas, John, 2021. "The effect of managers on M&As," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    7. Khoo, Joye & (Wai Kong) Cheung, Adrian, 2022. "Managerial ability and debt maturity," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(1).
    8. Florackis, Chris & Sainani, Sushil, 2021. "Can CFOs resist undue pressure from CEOs to manage earnings?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    9. Cha, Yunshil & Gill, Susan & Wong-On-Wing, Bernard, 2023. "Clawback policy enforcement: To disclose or not to disclose," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    10. Chen, Tai-Yuan & Zhang, Guochang & Zhou, Yi, 2018. "Enforceability of non-compete covenants, discretionary investments, and financial reporting practices: Evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 41-60.
    11. Cai, Ye & Kim, Yongtae & Li, Siqi & Pan, Carrie, 2019. "Tone at the top: CEOs’ religious beliefs and earnings management," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 195-213.
    12. Florian Eugster & Alexander F. Wagner, 2021. "Earning investor trust: The role of past earnings management," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 269-307, January.
    13. Habib, Ahsan & Hasan, Mostafa Monzur, 2017. "Managerial ability, investment efficiency and stock price crash risk," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 262-274.
    14. Nguyen, Hung T. & Pham, Mia Hang & Truong, Cameron, 2023. "Leadership in a pandemic: Do more able managers keep firms out of trouble?," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(C).
    15. Wooseok Choi & Sam Han & Sung Hwan Jung & Tony Kang, 2015. "CEO's Operating Ability and the Association between Accruals and Future Cash Flows," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(5-6), pages 619-634, June.
    16. Tri Tri Nguyen & Chau Minh Duong & Sunitha Narendran, 2021. "CEO profile and earnings quality," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 56(3), pages 987-1025, April.
    17. Godsell, David & Huang, Kelly & Lao, Brent, 2023. "Managers’ rank & file employee coordination costs and real activities manipulation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 107(C).
    18. Zahra H. Oskouei & Zahra Heidary Sureshjani, 2021. "Studying the relationship between managerial ability and real earnings management in economic and financial crisis conditions," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 4574-4589, July.
    19. Doukas, John A. & Zhang, Rongyao, 2020. "Corporate managerial ability, earnings smoothing, and acquisitions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    20. Puspita Ghaniy Anggraini & Mahfud Sholihin, 2023. "What do we know about managerial ability? A systematic literature review," Management Review Quarterly, Springer, vol. 73(1), pages 1-30, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:60:y:2020:i:4:p:3493-3526. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.