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Using Cost Observation To Regulate A Manager Who Has A Preference For Empire‐Building

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  • ANA PINTO BORGES
  • JOÃO CORREIA‐DA‐SILVA

Abstract

We study regulation of a manager who has a preference for empire-building (high output), in the presence of moral hazard (unobservable effort) and adverse selection (unobservable productivity). We find that the optimal contract is linear in cost, being composed by a fixed payment plus a partial cost reimbursement. The preference for higher output reduces the manager's tendency to announce that his or her productivity is low, allowing a more powered incentive scheme (a lower fraction of the cost is reimbursed), which alleviates the problem of moral hazard.

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  • Ana Pinto Borges & João Correia‐Da‐Silva, 2011. "Using Cost Observation To Regulate A Manager Who Has A Preference For Empire‐Building," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 79(1), pages 29-44, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:manchs:v:79:y:2011:i:1:p:29-44
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    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1111/j.1467-9957.2010.02224.x
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    1. Ana Pinto Borges & Didier Laussel & João Correia-da-Silva, 2013. "Multidimensional Screening with Complementary Activities: Regulating a Monopolist with Unknown Cost and Unknown Preference for Empire Building," Games, MDPI, vol. 4(3), pages 1-29, September.
    2. Ana Borges & João Correia-da-Silva & Didier Laussel, 2014. "Regulating a manager whose empire-building preferences are private information," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 111(2), pages 105-130, March.
    3. Sholomitskaya, Elena (Шоломицкая, Елена), 2017. "New Capital Investment vs. M&A: Evidence from Russian Public Corporates [Инвестиции В Новый Капитал И Сделки Поглощений: Случай Российских Публичных Корпораций]," Ekonomicheskaya Politika / Economic Policy, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, vol. 1, pages 226-249, February.

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