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The Dating Game: Do Managers Designate Option Grant Dates to Increase their Compensation?

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  • M. P. Narayanan
  • H. Nejat Seyhun

Abstract

We provide evidence of two variants of a dating game that entails picking a grant date ex post, that is, after the board's compensation decision is made: back-dating (picking a date before the board decision date), and forward-dating (waiting after the board decision date to observe the stock price behavior). Consistent with back-dating, we find stock return behavior around the grant date to be positively related to reporting lag. In the promptly reported sample, we find stock return behavior and the pattern of reporting lags consistent with forward-dating. Our calculations show that managers can obtain economically significant benefits by playing the dating game. , Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • M. P. Narayanan & H. Nejat Seyhun, 2008. "The Dating Game: Do Managers Designate Option Grant Dates to Increase their Compensation?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(5), pages 1907-1945, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:rfinst:v:21:y:2008:i:5:p:1907-1945
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    1. Compton, Ryan & Nicholls, Christopher C. & Sandler, Daniel & Tedds, Lindsay, 2011. "Quantifying the Personal Income Tax Benefits of Backdating: A Canada - US Comparison," MPRA Paper 39789, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Kim, Taeyeon & Kim, Hyun-Dong & Park, Kwangwoo, 2023. "Agency costs of customer concentration," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 85(C), pages 533-558.
    3. Thomas Piketty & Emmanuel Saez & Stefanie Stantcheva, 2014. "Optimal Taxation of Top Labor Incomes: A Tale of Three Elasticities," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 6(1), pages 230-271, February.
    4. Semih Tartaroglu & Michael Imhof, 2017. "Insider trading and response to earnings announcements: the impact of accelerated disclosure requirements," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 49(2), pages 315-336, August.
    5. Michaelides, Panayotis G. & Tsionas, Efthymios G. & Konstantakis, Konstantinos N. & Xidonas, Panos, 2019. "The impact of market competition on CEO salary in the US energy sector1," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 32-37.
    6. Ertimur, Yonca & Ferri, Fabrizio & Maber, David A., 2012. "Reputation penalties for poor monitoring of executive pay: Evidence from option backdating," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 118-144.
    7. Compton, Ryan & Sandler, Daniel & Tedds, Lindsay M., 2010. "Backdating, tax evasion, and the unintended consequences of Canadian tax reform," MPRA Paper 39788, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Lee Biggerstaff & David C. Cicero & Andy Puckett, 2013. "Unethical Culture, Suspect CEOs and Corporate Misbehavior," NBER Working Papers 19261, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Bernile, Gennaro & Jarrell, Gregg A., 2009. "The impact of the options backdating scandal on shareholders," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1-2), pages 2-26, March.
    10. Randall A. Heron & Erik Lie, 2009. "What Fraction of Stock Option Grants to Top Executives Have Been Backdated or Manipulated?," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(4), pages 513-525, April.
    11. Ashiq Ali & Kelsey D. Wei & Yibin Zhou, 2011. "Insider Trading and Option Grant Timing in Response to Fire Sales (and Purchases) of Stocks by Mutual Funds," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 595-632, June.
    12. Devos, Erik & Elliott, William B. & Warr, Richard S., 2015. "CEO opportunism?: Option grants and stock trades around stock splits," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 18-35.
    13. D’ Costa, Mabel & Habib, Ahsan, 2024. "Local creative culture and firm value," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 59(C).
    14. van der Goot, Tjalling, 2010. "Is it timing or backdating of option grants?," International Review of Law and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 209-217, September.
    15. Oscar Mitnik & Qiang Kang, 2008. "Not So Lucky Any More: CEO Compensation in Financially Distressed Firms," Working Papers 0906, University of Miami, Department of Economics.
    16. Kang, Qiang & Liu, Qiao & Qi, Rong, 2010. "The Sarbanes-Oxley act and corporate investment: A structural assessment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 291-305, May.
    17. Hongfei Tang, 2014. "Are CEO stock option grants optimal? Evidence from family firms and non-family firms around the Sarbanes–Oxley Act," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 251-292, February.
    18. Biggerstaff, Lee & Cicero, David C. & Puckett, Andy, 2015. "Suspect CEOs, unethical culture, and corporate misbehavior," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 98-121.
    19. Harford, Jarrad & Kecskés, Ambrus & Mansi, Sattar, 2018. "Do long-term investors improve corporate decision making?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 424-452.
    20. Dhaliwal, Dan & Erickson, Merle & Heitzman, Shane, 2009. "Taxes and the backdating of stock option exercise dates," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 47(1-2), pages 27-49, March.
    21. Blacconiere, Walter G. & Frederickson, James R. & Johnson, Marilyn F. & Lewis, Melissa F., 2011. "Are voluntary disclosures that disavow the reliability of mandated fair value information informative or opportunistic?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(2), pages 235-251.
    22. Eikseth, Hans Marius & Lindset, Snorre, 2011. "Backdating executive stock options--An ex ante valuation," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 35(10), pages 1731-1743, October.
    23. Compton, Ryan & Sandler, Daniel & Tedds, Lindsay M., 2010. "Options backdating: a Canadian perspective," MPRA Paper 39787, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    24. Hoi, Chun Keung(Stan) & Wu, Qiang & Zhang, Hao, 2019. "Does social capital mitigate agency problems? Evidence from Chief Executive Officer (CEO) compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 133(2), pages 498-519.
    25. Viput Ongsakul & Anutchanat Jaroenjitrkam & Sirimon Treepongkaruna & Pornsit Jiraporn, 2022. "Does board gender diversity reduce ‘CEO luck’?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 243-260, March.

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