IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/manchs/v88y2020i4p556-574.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Who pays for workplace benefits?

Author

Listed:
  • Maurizio Caserta
  • Livio Ferrante
  • Francesco Reito

Abstract

In a simple model with hidden action, we analyze the role of nonwage benefits (perks) in the structure of incentive‐compatible contracts. We show that the provision of perks depends on the size of the agent’s reservation wage. The two main results are: (a) for low levels of the reservation wage, perks are never provided by the principal, but the agent may decide to buy, as own consumption, a certain amount of private benefits; (b) for high levels, the principal may find it profitable to offer perks, and the equilibrium quantity increases more than proportionally with the reservation wage, up to the first‐best level.

Suggested Citation

  • Maurizio Caserta & Livio Ferrante & Francesco Reito, 2020. "Who pays for workplace benefits?," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 88(4), pages 556-574, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:manchs:v:88:y:2020:i:4:p:556-574
    DOI: 10.1111/manc.12310
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/manc.12310
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/manc.12310?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. Patrick Bolton & Mathias Dewatripont, 2005. "Contract Theory," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262025760, April.
    2. Rajan, Raghuram G. & Wulf, Julie, 2006. "Are perks purely managerial excess?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 1-33, January.
    3. Paul Oyer, 2008. "Salary or benefits?," Research in Labor Economics, in: Work, Earnings and Other Aspects of the Employment Relation, pages 429-467, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    4. Aghion, Philippe & Tirole, Jean, 1997. "Formal and Real Authority in Organizations," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 105(1), pages 1-29, February.
    5. Liang Zou, 1997. "Incentive roles of fringe benefits in compensation contracts," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 65(2), pages 181-199, June.
    6. Haynes, Jonathan B. & Sessions, John G., 2013. "Work now, pay later? An empirical analysis of the pension–pay trade off," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 30(C), pages 835-843.
    7. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    8. HOLMSTROM, Bengt, 1979. "Moral hazard and observability," LIDAM Reprints CORE 379, Université catholique de Louvain, Center for Operations Research and Econometrics (CORE).
    9. repec:ner:ucllon:http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/17678/ is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Chien, YiLi & Song, Joon, 2014. "A Note On Using Excessive Perks To Restrain The Hidden Saving Problem," Macroeconomic Dynamics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 18(2), pages 480-496, March.
    11. Weinschenk, Philipp, 2013. "Compensation, perks, and welfare," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 67-70.
    12. Lucian Arye Bebchuk & Jesse M. Fried, 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 71-92, Summer.
    13. Illoong Kwon, 2006. "Optimal Contracts for Long‐Term Decisions and the Threat of Dismissal," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(3), pages 735-761, September.
    14. Weinschenk, Philipp, 2017. "Working conditions and regulation," Labour Economics, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 177-191.
    15. Flath, David & Knoeber, Charles R, 1985. "Managerial Shareholding," Journal of Industrial Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 93-99, September.
    16. McNabb, Robert, 1989. "Compensating Wage Differentials: Some Evidence for Britain," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 41(2), pages 327-338, April.
    17. Peter J. Brews & Christopher L. Tucci, 2004. "Exploring the structural effects of internetworking," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(5), pages 429-451, May.
    18. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Fried, Jesse M., 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt81q3136r, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
    19. Bengt Holmstrom, 1979. "Moral Hazard and Observability," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 74-91, Spring.
    20. Yermack, David, 2006. "Flights of fancy: Corporate jets, CEO perquisites, and inferior shareholder returns," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(1), pages 211-242, April.
    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. Stacey Beaumont & Raluca Ratiu & David Reeb & Glenn Boyle & Philip Brown & Alexander Szimayer & Raymond Silva Rosa & David Hillier & Patrick McColgan & Athanasios Tsekeris & Bryan Howieson & Zoltan Ma, 2016. "Comments on Shan and Walter: ‘Towards a Set of Design Principles for Executive Compensation Contracts’," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 52(4), pages 685-771, December.
    2. Weinschenk, Philipp, 2013. "Compensation, perks, and welfare," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 120(1), pages 67-70.
    3. Calcagno, R. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2004. "Capital Structure and Managerial Compensation : The Effects of Renumeration Seniority," Discussion Paper 2004-120, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    4. Sautner, Zacharias & Weber, Martin, 2005. "Corporate governance and the design of stock option programs," Papers 05-32, Sonderforschungsbreich 504.
    5. Sualihu, Mohammed Aminu & Rankin, Michaela & Haman, Janto, 2021. "The role of equity compensation in reducing inefficient investment in labor," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    6. Hilmer, Michael, 2013. "Fiscal treatment of managerial compensation - a welfare analysis," VfS Annual Conference 2013 (Duesseldorf): Competition Policy and Regulation in a Global Economic Order 79703, Verein für Socialpolitik / German Economic Association.
    7. Todd M. Alessandri & Anju Seth, 2014. "The effects of managerial ownership on international and business diversification: Balancing incentives and risks," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(13), pages 2064-2075, December.
    8. Alex Edmans & Xavier Gabaix & Augustin Landier, 2007. "A Calibratable Model of Optimal CEO Incentives in Market Equilibrium," NBER Working Papers 13372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Anthony M. Marino & Ján Zábojník, 2008. "Work‐related perks, agency problems, and optimal incentive contracts," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 39(2), pages 565-585, June.
    10. Maximilian Focke, 2022. "Do sustainable institutional investors influence senior executive compensation structures according to their preferences? Empirical evidence from Europe," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1109-1121, September.
    11. de La Bruslerie, H. & Deffains-Crapsky, C., 2008. "Information asymmetry, contract design and process of negotiation: The stock options awarding case," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(2), pages 73-91, April.
    12. Ting, Hsiu-I & Huang, Po-Kai, 2018. "CEOs’ power and perks: Evidence from Chinese banks," Journal of Economics and Business, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 19-27.
    13. Mroczek-Dąbrowska Katarzyna & Shemesh Yaron, 2020. "(Re)-structuring the Ceo’s compensation—the case of Israel," Economics and Business Review, Sciendo, vol. 6(3), pages 105-117, August.
    14. Dietl Helmut M & Duschl Tobias & Lang Markus, 2011. "Executive Pay Regulation: What Regulators, Shareholders, and Managers Can Learn from Major Sports Leagues," Business and Politics, De Gruyter, vol. 13(2), pages 1-32, August.
    15. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate, 2009. "Superstar CEOs," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(4), pages 1593-1638.
    16. Li, Zhigang & Xie, Bingyuan & Chen, Ximing & Fu, Qilong, 2024. "Corporate digital transformation, governance shifts and executive pay-performance sensitivity," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 92(C).
    17. Timothy Fogarty & Michel Magnan & Garen Markarian & Serge Bohdjalian, 2009. "Inside Agency: The Rise and Fall of Nortel," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 84(2), pages 165-187, January.
    18. Palmon, Oded & Bar-Yosef, Sasson & Chen, Ren-Raw & Venezia, Itzhak, 2008. "Optimal strike prices of stock options for effort-averse executives," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(2), pages 229-239, February.
    19. Xiaoyi Ren & Xing Liu & Zongtao Tian, 2020. "Excess perks in SOEs: evidence from China," Asian-Pacific Economic Literature, The Crawford School, The Australian National University, vol. 34(2), pages 152-165, November.
    20. Dragan Ilić & Sonja Pisarov & Peter S. Schmidt, 2019. "Preaching water but drinking wine? Relative performance evaluation in international banking," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 155(1), pages 1-25, December.

    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:manchs:v:88:y:2020:i:4:p:556-574. 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/semanuk.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.