IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/cir/cirwor/2002s-71.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Do CEOs Exercise Their Stock Options Earlier than Other Executives?

Author

Listed:
  • Paul André
  • M. Martin Boyer
  • Robert Gagné

Abstract

This paper looks at the timing chosen by CEOs to exercise their stock options and to sell their shares of stock compared to the timing chosen by other top executives in the firm. We first present a model that predicts when CEOs should exercise their options and/or sell their shares, and when other top managers should. Using a tournament approach we find that other top executives should exercise their stock options later than the CEO. We test this model using an unique data set of Canadian companies from 1993 onward. Our results seem to support the theoretical model as non-CEO executives seem to exercise their stock options about a calendar year later than the CEO. Moreover, non-CEO executive a more likely to exercise when a new CEO has been appointed, confirming our tournament model results. Nous étudions dans cet article le moment choisi par le PDG d'une compagnie pour lever ses options ou vendre ses actions dans la compagnie comparativement au moment choisi par les autres hauts dirigeants de la compagnie. Nous présentons premièrement un modèle théorique de tournoi qui fait des prédictions quant au moment opportun pour le PDG et les autres dirigeants de lever leurs options et/ou de vendre leurs actions dans la compagnie. Nous montrons théoriquement dans un tel modèle de tournoi que les hauts dirigeants devraient lever leurs options après le PDG. Nous testons ce modèle en utilisant une base de données unique de compagnies canadiennes de 1993 à 1999. Nos résultats empiriques semblent supporter notre modèle théorique puisque les hauts dirigeants semblent lever leurs options un an plus tard que le PDG. De plus, les hauts dirigeants semblent plus enclins à lever leurs options lorsqu'un nouveau PDG vient d'être nommé, confirmant ainsi notre modèle de tournoi.

Suggested Citation

  • Paul André & M. Martin Boyer & Robert Gagné, 2002. "Do CEOs Exercise Their Stock Options Earlier than Other Executives?," CIRANO Working Papers 2002s-71, CIRANO.
  • Handle: RePEc:cir:cirwor:2002s-71
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://cirano.qc.ca/files/publications/2002s-71.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lazear, Edward P & Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 841-864, October.
    2. Yermack, David, 1995. "Do corporations award CEO stock options effectively?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 237-269.
    3. Kole, Stacey R., 1997. "The complexity of compensation contracts," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 79-104, January.
    4. Yermack, David, 1997. "Good Timing: CEO Stock Option Awards and Company News Announcements," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 449-476, June.
    5. Smith, Clifford Jr. & Watts, Ross L., 1992. "The investment opportunity set and corporate financing, dividend, and compensation policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 263-292, December.
    6. Bryan, Stephen & Hwang, LeeSeok & Lilien, Steven, 2000. "CEO Stock-Based Compensation: An Empirical Analysis of Incentive-Intensity, Relative Mix, and Economic Determinants," The Journal of Business, University of Chicago Press, vol. 73(4), pages 661-693, October.
    7. Steven Huddart, 1998. "Tax Planning and the Exercise of Employee Stock Options," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 15(2), pages 203-216, June.
    8. Chip Heath & Steven Huddart & Mark Lang, 1999. "Psychological Factors and Stock Option Exercise," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(2), pages 601-627.
    9. Parrino, Robert, 1997. "CEO turnover and outside succession A cross-sectional analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 165-197, November.
    10. Hemmer, Thomas & Matsunaga, Steve & Shevlin, Terry, 1996. "The influence of risk diversification on the early exercise of employee stock options by executive officers," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 45-68, February.
    11. 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.
    12. Carpenter, Jennifer N., 1998. "The exercise and valuation of executive stock options," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 127-158, May.
    13. Cuny, Charles J. & Jorion, Philippe, 1995. "Valuing executive stock options with endogenous departure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(2), pages 193-205, September.
    14. Kenneth J. Klassen & Amin Mawani, 2000. "The Impact of Financial and Tax Reporting Incentives on Option Grants to Canadian CEOs," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 227-262, June.
    15. Murphy, Kevin J., 1999. "Executive compensation," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 38, pages 2485-2563, Elsevier.
    16. Huddart, Steven & Lang, Mark, 1996. "Employee stock option exercises an empirical analysis," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 5-43, February.
    17. Chan, William, 1996. "External Recruitment versus Internal Promotion," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 14(4), pages 555-570, October.
    18. Rosen, Sherwin, 1986. "Prizes and Incentives in Elimination Tournaments," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(4), pages 701-715, September.
    19. Kevin J. Murphy & Brian J. Hall, 2000. "Optimal Exercise Prices for Executive Stock Options," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(2), pages 209-214, May.
    20. Hemmer, T & Matsunaga, S & Shevlin, T, 1998. "Optimal exercise and the cost of granting employee stock options with a reload provision," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(2), pages 231-255.
    21. Healy, Paul M., 1985. "The effect of bonus schemes on accounting decisions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1-3), pages 85-107, April.
    22. Huddart, Steven, 1994. "Employee stock options," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 207-231, September.
    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. Tristan Boyd & Philip Brown & Alex Szimayer, 2007. "What determines early exercise of employee stock options in Australia?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 47(2), pages 165-185, June.
    2. Jonathan Ingersoll, 2002. "The Subjective and Objective Evaluation of Incentive Stock Options," Yale School of Management Working Papers ysm276, Yale School of Management, revised 01 Jul 2003.
    3. Hamza Bahaji, 2009. "Contribution à l'analyse des déterminants du comportement d'exercice des porteurs de stock options : une étude empirique sur le marché Américain," Working Papers halshs-00512840, HAL.
    4. repec:grm:ecoyun:201705 is not listed 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. Muurling, Rutger & Lehnert, Thorsten, 2004. "Option-based compensation: a survey," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 39(4), pages 365-401.
    2. Carola Frydman & Dirk Jenter, 2010. "CEO Compensation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 75-102, December.
    3. repec:dau:papers:123456789/9550 is not listed on IDEAS
    4. repec:dau:papers:123456789/13098 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2485-2563 is not listed on IDEAS
    6. Stefan Winter, 1998. "Zur Eignung von Aktienoptionsplänen als Motivationsinstrument für Manager," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 50(12), pages 1120-1142, December.
    7. Brookfield, David & Ormrod, Phillip, 2000. "Executive stock options: volatility, managerial decisions and agency costs," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 10(3-4), pages 275-295, December.
    8. Brian J. Hall & Thomas A. Knox, 2002. "Managing Option Fragility," NBER Working Papers 9059, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    9. Liljeblom, Eva & Pasternack, Daniel & Rosenberg, Matts, 2011. "What determines stock option contract design?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 293-316.
    10. Bryan, Stephen & Nash, Robert & Patel, Ajay, 2006. "Can the agency costs of debt and equity explain the changes in executive compensation during the 1990s?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 516-535, June.
    11. Brian J. Hall & Thomas A. Knox, 2004. "Underwater Options and the Dynamics of Executive Pay‐to‐Performance Sensitivities," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(2), pages 365-412, May.
    12. Bettis, J. Carr & Bizjak, John M. & Lemmon, Michael L., 2005. "Exercise behavior, valuation, and the incentive effects of employee stock options," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(2), pages 445-470, May.
    13. de Meza, David & Webb, David C., 2003. "Principal agent problems under loss aversion: an application to executive stock options," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 24676, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    14. Lim, Terence & Lo, Andrew W. & Merton, Robert C. & Scholes, Myron S., 2006. "The Derivatives Sourcebook," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 1(5–6), pages 365-572, April.
    15. Bushman, Robert M. & Smith, Abbie J., 2001. "Financial accounting information and corporate governance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-3), pages 237-333, December.
    16. Sautner, Zacharias & Weber, Martin, 2005. "Stock options and employee behavior," Papers 05-26, Sonderforschungsbreich 504.
    17. Philippe Desbrières & Sylvie Saint-Onge & Michel Magnan, 2000. "Les plans d'option sur actions:théorie et pratique," Working Papers CREGO 1000102, Université de Bourgogne - CREGO EA7317 Centre de recherches en gestion des organisations.
    18. Sun, Sophia Li & Habib, Ahsan, 2020. "Determinants and consequences of tournament incentives: A survey of the literature in accounting and finance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    19. M. Martin Boyer & Hernán Ortiz‐Molina, 2008. "Career Concerns of Top Executives, Managerial Ownership and CEO Succession," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 178-193, May.
    20. Kiridaran Kanagaretnam & Gerald Lobo & Emad Mohammad, 2009. "Are Stock Options Grants to CEOs of Stagnant Firms Fair and Justified?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 90(1), pages 137-155, November.
    21. Sautner, Zacharias & Weber, Martin, 2005. "Subjective Stock Option Values and Exercise Decisions: Determinants and Consistency," Sonderforschungsbereich 504 Publications 05-31, Sonderforschungsbereich 504, Universität Mannheim;Sonderforschungsbereich 504, University of Mannheim.
    22. Grasselli, Matheus & Henderson, Vicky, 2009. "Risk aversion and block exercise of executive stock options," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 109-127, January.
    23. Rosenberg, Matts, 2003. "Stock Option Compensation in Finland: An Analysis of Economic Determinants, Contracting Frequency, and Design," Working Papers 496, Hanken School of Economics.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    CEO and Executive Compensation; Options; Timing of Exercised Options.; Contributions volontaires; pertes publiques; risque; ambiguïté; données expérimentales;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:cir:cirwor:2002s-71. 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: Webmaster (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/ciranca.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.