IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/jeborg/v148y2018icp150-170.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Short-termism of executive compensation

Author

Listed:
  • Pogach, Jonathan

Abstract

This paper presents an optimal contracting theory of short-term firm behavior. Contracts inducing short-sighted managerial behavior arise as shareholders’ response to conflicting intergenerational managerial incentives. High-return projects may last longer than the tenure of managers who implement them. Consequently, inducing managers to act in the long-term interests of firms requires the alignment of incentives across multiple managers. Such action comes at greater costs than providing incentives for a single manager and leads to contracts that favor short-term behavior. Long-term firm value maximization is further impeded when only the quality of accepted projects–but not those of declined projects–is public. In that case, shareholders find it costly to induce long-term project selection among managers who can earn all information rents from short-term projects but must sacrifice information rents from long-term projects to future managers.

Suggested Citation

  • Pogach, Jonathan, 2018. "Short-termism of executive compensation," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 148(C), pages 150-170.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:148:y:2018:i:c:p:150-170
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2018.02.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167268118300428
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jebo.2018.02.014?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dirk Jenter & Katharina Lewellen, 2015. "CEO Preferences and Acquisitions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 70(6), pages 2813-2852, December.
    2. Anindya Banerjee & Alan Beggs, 1989. "Efficiency in Hierarchies: Implementing the First-Best Solution by Sequential Actions," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 20(4), pages 637-645, Winter.
    3. Weisbach, Michael S., 1995. "CEO turnover and the firm's investment decisions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 159-188, February.
    4. Strausz, Roland, 1999. "Efficiency in Sequential Partnerships," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 140-156, March.
    5. Laux, Christian, 2001. "Limited-Liability and Incentive Contracting with Multiple Projects," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 32(3), pages 514-526, Autumn.
    6. Eyal Winter, 2006. "Optimal incentives for sequential production processes," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 37(2), pages 376-390, June.
    7. Ernst-Ludwig von Thadden, 1995. "Long-Term Contracts, Short-Term Investment and Monitoring," The Review of Economic Studies, Review of Economic Studies Ltd, vol. 62(4), pages 557-575.
    8. Giannetti, Mariassunta, 2011. "Serial CEO incentives and the structure of managerial contracts," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 20(4), pages 633-662, October.
    9. Susumu Cato & Akifumi Ishihara, 2017. "Transparency and Performance Evaluation in Sequential Agency," The Journal of Law, Economics, and Organization, Oxford University Press, vol. 33(3), pages 475-506.
    10. Froot, Kenneth A & Scharftstein, David S & Stein, Jeremy C, 1992. "Herd on the Street: Informational Inefficiencies in a Market with Short-Term Speculation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(4), pages 1461-1484, September.
    11. Dechow, Patricia M. & Sloan, Richard G., 1991. "Executive incentives and the horizon problem : An empirical investigation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1), pages 51-89, March.
    12. Palley, Thomas I., 1997. "Managerial turnover and the theory of short-termism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 547-557, April.
    13. Bengt Holmstrom & Joan Ricart i Costa, 1986. "Managerial Incentives and Capital Management," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 101(4), pages 835-860.
    14. Tamada, Yasunari & Tsai, Tsung-Sheng, 2007. "Optimal organization in a sequential investment problem with the principal's cancellation option," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 25(3), pages 631-641, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Trustmore Bekapi, 2023. "Impact of Institutional Investors and Board Independence on Corporate Short-Termism: Longitudinal Evidence from Zimbabwe," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(9), pages 1531-1552, September.
    2. Sergey Grishunin & Svetlana Suloeva & Ekaterina Burova, 2022. "Development of Risk Management Mechanism and the System of Risk Metrics to Evaluate and Enhance the Long-Term Orientation of the Strategies of Non-Financial Companies," Risks, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Lu He & Yulei Rao & Lin Xu, 2023. "Appointment-Based CEO Connectedness and Employee Compensation: Empirical Evidence from China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-15, August.
    4. Weixiu Li & Bo Li, 2023. "Intellectual Property Pledge Financing and Enterprise Innovation: Based on the Perspective of Signal Incentive," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(13), pages 1-21, July.

    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. Peter Cziraki & Moqi Xu, 2014. "Ceo Job Security And Risk-Taking," FMG Discussion Papers dp729, Financial Markets Group.
    2. Fleckinger, Pierre & Martimort, David & Roux, Nicolas, 2023. "Should They Compete or Should They Cooperate? The View of Agency Theory," TSE Working Papers 23-1421, Toulouse School of Economics (TSE), revised Jan 2024.
    3. Pierre Fleckinger & David Martimort & Nicolas Roux, 2024. "Should They Compete or Should They Cooperate? The View of Agency Theory," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 62(4), pages 1589-1646, December.
    4. Li, Xiaoyang & Low, Angie & Makhija, Anil K., 2017. "Career concerns and the busy life of the young CEO," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 88-109.
    5. Cziraki, Peter & Xu, Moqi, 2014. "CEO job security and risk-taking," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 55909, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Ghaly, Mohamed & Dang, Viet Anh & Stathopoulos, Konstantinos, 2020. "Institutional investors' horizons and corporate employment decisions," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    7. Dunia López-Pintado & Juan D. Moreno-Ternero, 2011. "On the optimal management of teams under budget constraints," Working Papers 11.11, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, Department of Economics.
    8. Giovanni Cespa & Xavier Vives, 2011. "Expectations, Liquidity, and Short-term Trading," CESifo Working Paper Series 3390, CESifo.
    9. Antia, Murad & Pantzalis, Christos & Park, Jung Chul, 2010. "CEO decision horizon and firm performance: An empirical investigation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 288-301, June.
    10. Aktas, Nihat & Boone, Audra & Croci, Ettore & Signori, Andrea, 2021. "Reductions in CEO career horizons and corporate policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    11. Renneboog, L.D.R. & Trojanowski, G., 2002. "The Managerial Labor Market and the Governance Role of Shareholder Control Structures in the UK," Discussion Paper 2002-68, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    12. Alberto Zazzaro, 2006. "La scomparsa dei centri decisionali dal sistema bancario meridionale," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, vol. 96(2), pages 31-60, March-Apr.
    13. Murali Agastya & Kanti Parimal Bag & Nona Pepito, 2016. "Task ordering in incentives under externalities," Working Papers hal-01282673, HAL.
    14. Kelvin K. F. Law & Lillian F. Mills, 2017. "Military experience and corporate tax avoidance," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 141-184, March.
    15. Hui Liang James, 2020. "CEO age and tax planning," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(2), pages 275-299, April.
    16. Zhaolin Li & Steven Q. Lu & Jennifer K. Ryan & Daewon Sun, 2021. "Impact of Organizational Structure on Development Strategy under Equity‐Based Incentives," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(4), pages 984-996, April.
    17. Pierre Chaigneau, 2010. "The Optimal Timing of Executive Compensation," FMG Discussion Papers dp660, Financial Markets Group.
    18. Dumas, Jean-Malik, 2016. "Essays in behavioral strategy," Other publications TiSEM a04c1b1b-eeed-48ad-894b-7, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    19. Tymofiy Mylovanov & Patrick Schmitz, 2008. "Task scheduling and moral hazard," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 37(2), pages 307-320, November.
    20. Xu Tan & Quan Wen, 2020. "Information acquisition and voting with heterogeneous experts," RAND Journal of Economics, RAND Corporation, vol. 51(4), pages 1063-1092, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Executive compensation; Short-termism; Sequential production;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D8 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty
    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
    • J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs
    • L2 - Industrial Organization - - Firm Objectives, Organization, and Behavior

    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:eee:jeborg:v:148:y:2018:i:c:p:150-170. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jebo .

    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.