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Assessing the role of option grants to CEOs: How important is heterogeneity?

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  • Baranchuk, Nina
  • Chib, Siddhartha

Abstract

This paper revisits the question of whether CEO compensation practices are in keeping with those justified by agency theory. We develop and analyze a new panel Tobit model, estimated by modern Bayesian methods, in which the heterogeneity of covariate effects across firms is modeled in a hierarchical way. We find that our specification of heterogeneity provides a significantly improved fit to the data. Our results show support for the hypothesis that companies increase option awards to their CEOs when agency problems become more pronounced. We also find that liquidity constraints matter in defining the cash-option mix of CEO compensation.

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  • Baranchuk, Nina & Chib, Siddhartha, 2008. "Assessing the role of option grants to CEOs: How important is heterogeneity?," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 145-166, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:15:y:2008:i:2:p:145-166
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    1. Laura Liu & Hyungsik Roger Moon & Frank Schorfheide, 2023. "Forecasting with a panel Tobit model," Quantitative Economics, Econometric Society, vol. 14(1), pages 117-159, January.
    2. Voulgaris, Georgios & Stathopoulos, Konstantinos & Walker, Martin, 2014. "IFRS and the Use of Accounting-Based Performance Measures in Executive Pay," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 479-514.
    3. F. Louzada & P. H. Ferreira, 2016. "Modified inference function for margins for the bivariate clayton copula-based SUN Tobit Model," Journal of Applied Statistics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 43(16), pages 2956-2976, December.
    4. Yacine Belghitar & Ephraim A. Clark, 2012. "The Effect of CEO Risk Appetite on Firm Volatility: An Empirical Analysis of Financial Firms☆," International Journal of the Economics of Business, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(2), pages 195-211, July.

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