IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/corfin/v33y2015icp180-195.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The effect of cultural distance on contracting decisions: The case of executive compensation

Author

Listed:
  • Bryan, Stephen
  • Nash, Robert
  • Patel, Ajay

Abstract

This paper focuses on how differences in national culture may relate to cross-country differences in the structure of executive compensation contracts. We know that firms design executive compensation contracts to reduce conflicts of interest between owners and managers. We contend that cultural context affects these conflicts of interest and hypothesize that firms from cultures that are similar (different) should design compensation contracts that are similar (different). To specify cultural context, we calculate cultural distance using value dimensions from Hofstede (1980) and test for a relation between culture and contracting using compensation data for 39 countries from 1996–2009. Our findings indicate that culture is a significant determinant of cross-sectional differences in compensation structures. These results are robust to our use of instrumental variables methodologies (to mitigate concerns of potential omitted variables and reverse causation). By exploring the relatively unexplored impact of national culture on compensation structure, we hope to contribute to a better overall understanding of contracting decisions.

Suggested Citation

  • Bryan, Stephen & Nash, Robert & Patel, Ajay, 2015. "The effect of cultural distance on contracting decisions: The case of executive compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 180-195.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:corfin:v:33:y:2015:i:c:p:180-195
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2015.06.001
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0929119915000693
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jcorpfin.2015.06.001?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. Karen K. Lewis, 1999. "Trying to Explain Home Bias in Equities and Consumption," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 37(2), pages 571-608, June.
    2. Xavier Gabaix & Augustin Landier, 2008. "Why has CEO Pay Increased So Much?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 123(1), pages 49-100.
    3. 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.
    4. Ramírez, Andrés & Tadesse, Solomon, 2009. "Corporate cash holdings, uncertainty avoidance, and the multinationality of firms," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 18(4), pages 387-403, August.
    5. Enrico Spolaore & Romain Wacziarg, 2009. "The Diffusion of Development," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 124(2), pages 469-529.
    6. David H. Romer & Jeffrey A. Frankel, 1999. "Does Trade Cause Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 379-399, June.
    7. Megginson, William L & Nash, Robert C & van Randenborgh, Matthias, 1994. "The Financial and Operating Performance of Newly Privatized Firms: An International Empirical Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 49(2), pages 403-452, June.
    8. John, Teresa A & John, Kose, 1993. "Top-Management Compensation and Capital Structure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 48(3), pages 949-974, July.
    9. Elston, Julie Ann & Goldberg, Lawrence G., 2003. "Executive compensation and agency costs in Germany," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(7), pages 1391-1410, July.
    10. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    11. Licht, Amir N. & Goldschmidt, Chanan & Schwartz, Shalom H., 2007. "Culture rules: The foundations of the rule of law and other norms of governance," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 659-688, December.
    12. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    13. Oliver E. Williamson, 2000. "The New Institutional Economics: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 38(3), pages 595-613, September.
    14. Tesar, Linda L. & Werner, Ingrid M., 1995. "Home bias and high turnover," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 14(4), pages 467-492, August.
    15. George P. Baker & Brian J. Hall, 2004. "CEO Incentives and Firm Size," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 22(4), pages 767-798, October.
    16. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2008. "The law and economics of self-dealing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 430-465, June.
    17. Merton, Robert C, 1987. "A Simple Model of Capital Market Equilibrium with Incomplete Information," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 42(3), pages 483-510, July.
    18. Portes, Richard & Rey, Helene, 2005. "The determinants of cross-border equity flows," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 269-296, March.
    19. Yermack, David, 1995. "Do corporations award CEO stock options effectively?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2-3), pages 237-269.
    20. Bruce Kogut & Harbir Singh, 1988. "The Effect of National Culture on the Choice of Entry Mode," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 19(3), pages 411-432, September.
    21. 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.
    22. Dow, James & Gorton, Gary, 1997. "Stock Market Efficiency and Economic Efficiency: Is There a Connection?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1087-1129, July.
    23. John Vickers & George Yarrow, 1991. "Economic Perspectives on Privatization," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 5(2), pages 111-132, Spring.
    24. Sergei Sarkissian, 2004. "The Overseas Listing Decision: New Evidence of Proximity Preference," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 17(3), pages 769-809.
    25. Laurence Booth & Varouj Aivazian & Asli Demirguc‐Kunt & Vojislav Maksimovic, 2001. "Capital Structures in Developing Countries," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 87-130, February.
    26. Luigi Guiso & Paola Sapienza & Luigi Zingales, 2006. "Does Culture Affect Economic Outcomes?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 20(2), pages 23-48, Spring.
    27. Bradley L Kirkman & Kevin B Lowe & Cristina B Gibson, 2006. "A quarter century of Culture's Consequences: a review of empirical research incorporating Hofstede's cultural values framework," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 37(3), pages 285-320, May.
    28. Lievenbrück, Martin & Schmid, Thomas, 2014. "Why do firms (not) hedge? — Novel evidence on cultural influence," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 92-106.
    29. Marco Pagano & Ailsa A. Röell & Josef Zechner, 2002. "The Geography of Equity Listing: Why Do Companies List Abroad?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(6), pages 2651-2694, December.
    30. Mariassunta Giannetti & Yishay Yafeh, 2012. "Do Cultural Differences Between Contracting Parties Matter? Evidence from Syndicated Bank Loans," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 365-383, February.
    31. Rossi, Stefano & Volpin, Paolo F., 2004. "Cross-country determinants of mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 277-304, November.
    32. Yuriy Gorodnichenko & Gerard Roland, 2011. "Which Dimensions of Culture Matter for Long-Run Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 101(3), pages 492-498, May.
    33. Kenneth Lehn & Annette Poulsen, 1989. "Free Cash Flow and Stockholder Gains in Going Private Transactions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(3), pages 771-787, July.
    34. 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.
    35. Nuno Fernandes & Miguel A. Ferreira & Pedro Matos & Kevin J. Murphy, 2013. "Are U.S. CEOs Paid More? New International Evidence," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(2), pages 323-367.
    36. Bizjak, John M. & Brickley, James A. & Coles, Jeffrey L., 1993. "Stock-based incentive compensation and investment behavior," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-3), pages 349-372, April.
    37. Huberman, Gur, 2001. "Familiarity Breeds Investment," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 14(3), pages 659-680.
    38. Atif Mian, 2006. "Distance Constraints: The Limits of Foreign Lending in Poor Economies," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(3), pages 1465-1505, June.
    39. Rajan, Raghuram G & Zingales, Luigi, 1995. "What Do We Know about Capital Structure? Some Evidence from International Data," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 50(5), pages 1421-1460, December.
    40. Gaver, Jennifer J. & Gaver, Kenneth M., 1993. "Additional evidence on the association between the investment opportunity set and corporate financing, dividend, and compensation policies," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-3), pages 125-160, April.
    41. Li, Kai & Griffin, Dale & Yue, Heng & Zhao, Longkai, 2013. "How does culture influence corporate risk-taking?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 1-22.
    42. Mark Grinblatt & Matti Keloharju, 2001. "How Distance, Language, and Culture Influence Stockholdings and Trades," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 56(3), pages 1053-1073, June.
    43. Richards, Malika & De Carolis, Donna Marie, 2003. "Joint venture research and development activity: an analysis of the international biotechnology industry," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 9(1), pages 33-49.
    44. Black, Fischer & Scholes, Myron S, 1973. "The Pricing of Options and Corporate Liabilities," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 81(3), pages 637-654, May-June.
    45. Stephen Bryan & Robert Nash & Ajay Patel, 2010. "How the Legal System Affects the Equity Mix in Executive Compensation," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 393-418, March.
    46. Mihir A. Desai & C. Fritz Foley & James R. Hines, 2004. "A Multinational Perspective on Capital Structure Choice and Internal Capital Markets," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 59(6), pages 2451-2487, December.
    47. Stephen Bryan & Robert Nash & Ajay Patel, 2011. "Law and Executive Compensation: A Cross‐Country Study," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 23(1), pages 84-91, January.
    48. Siegel, Jordan I. & Licht, Amir N. & Schwartz, Shalom H., 2011. "Egalitarianism and international investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(3), pages 621-642.
    49. M Krishna Erramilli, 1991. "The Experience Factor in Foreign Market Entry Behavior of Service Firms," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 22(3), pages 479-501, September.
    50. Ahern, Kenneth R. & Daminelli, Daniele & Fracassi, Cesare, 2015. "Lost in translation? The effect of cultural values on mergers around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 165-189.
    51. Kalok Chan & Vicentiu Covrig & Lilian Ng, 2005. "What Determines the Domestic Bias and Foreign Bias? Evidence from Mutual Fund Equity Allocations Worldwide," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 60(3), pages 1495-1534, June.
    52. Jiatao Li & Stephen Guisinger, 1992. "The Globalization of Service Multinationals in the “Triad” Regions: Japan, Western Europe and North America," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 23(4), pages 675-696, December.
    53. Lehn, Kenneth & Poulsen, Annette, 1989. " Free Cash Flow and Stockholder Gains in Going Private Transactions," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 44(3), pages 771-787, July.
    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. Liu, Haiming & Liang, Quanxi & Ling, Leng, 2022. "Underrepresentation of female CEOs in China: The role of culture, market forces, and foreign experience of directors," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 63(C).
    2. Cheng, Xu & Kong, Dongmin & Kong, Gaowen, 2022. "Foreign institutional investors and executive compensation incentives: Evidence from China," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    3. Stephen P. Ferris & Narayanan Jayaraman & Tim Zhang, 2022. "A clash of cultures: The governance and valuation effects of corporate cultural distance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(9-10), pages 1696-1735, October.
    4. Kostas Pappas & Alice Liang Xu, 2023. "Do foreign lenders' national cultures affect loan pricing?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(2), pages 2006-2036, April.
    5. Frijns, Bart & Dodd, Olga & Cimerova, Helena, 2016. "The impact of cultural diversity in corporate boards on firm performance," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 521-541.
    6. Riguang Wen & Qun Cao & Huijuan Wang, 2023. "Are Pay Decisions Based on Pre-Contract Efficiency Necessarily Correct? Evidence From Players Contracts of National Basketball Association," SAGE Open, , vol. 13(4), pages 21582440231, November.
    7. Dodd, Olga & Frijns, Bart & Garel, Alexandre, 2022. "Cultural diversity among directors and corporate social responsibility," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    8. Conyon, Martin J. & Haß, Lars Helge & Vergauwe, Skrålan & Zhang, Zhifang, 2019. "Foreign experience and CEO compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 102-121.
    9. Anh Viet Pham & Mia Hang Pham & Cameron Truong, 2022. "CEO cultural heritage and the pricing of audit services," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1-2), pages 181-214, January.
    10. Naeem, Muhammad & Khurram, Shahzad, 2020. "Does a CEO's culture affect dividend policy?," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 35(C).
    11. Frijns, Bart & Hubers, Frank & Kim, Donghoon & Roh, Tai-Yong & Xu, Yahua, 2022. "National culture and corporate risk-taking around the world," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    12. Brandon N. Cline & Claudia R. Williamson, 2020. "Trust, regulation, and contracting institutions," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 26(4), pages 859-895, September.
    13. Cline, Brandon N. & Williamson, Claudia R. & Xiong, Haoyang, 2021. "Culture and the regulation of insider trading across countries," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    14. Jha, Anand & Kim, YoungJun & Gutierrez-Wirsching, Sandra, 2019. "Formation of cross-border corporate strategic alliances: The roles of trust and cultural, institutional, and geographical distances," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Finance, Elsevier, vol. 21(C), pages 22-38.
    15. Francesco Saverio Stentella Lopes & Franco Fiordelisi & Ornella Ricci, 2019. "Corporate Culture and Merger Success," Working Papers 19013, Bangor Business School, Prifysgol Bangor University (Cymru / Wales).
    16. So, Jacky Yuk-chow & Zhang, John Fan, 2022. "The effect of cultural heterogeneity on cash holdings of multinational businesses," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    17. Cline, Brandon N. & Williamson, Claudia R., 2017. "Individualism, democracy, and contract enforcement," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 284-306.

    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. Stephen Bryan & Robert Nash & Ajay Patel, 2010. "How the Legal System Affects the Equity Mix in Executive Compensation," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 393-418, March.
    2. Siegel, Jordan I. & Licht, Amir N. & Schwartz, Shalom H., 2011. "Egalitarianism and international investment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(3), pages 621-642.
    3. Pascal Gantenbein & Axel Kind & Christophe Volonté, 2019. "Individualism and Venture Capital: A Cross-Country Study," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 59(5), pages 741-777, October.
    4. Giofré, Maela, 2013. "International diversification: Households versus institutional investors," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 145-176.
    5. D'Souza, Juliet & Nash, Robert, 2017. "Private benefits of public control: Evidence of political and economic benefits of state ownership," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 232-247.
    6. Olga Dodd & Bart Frijns & Aaron Gilbert, 2015. "On the Role of Cultural Distance in the Decision to Cross†List," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 21(4), pages 706-741, September.
    7. Charles J. Reuter, 2011. "A survey of culture and finance," Post-Print hal-03016357, HAL.
    8. Chui, Andy C.W. & Li, Xiao & Saffar, Walid, 2021. "National culture and the choice between bank debt and public debt," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    9. Wang, Daphne & Esqueda, Omar A., 2014. "National cultural effects on leverage decisions: Evidence from emerging-market ADRs," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 31(C), pages 152-177.
    10. Li, Chang & Yang, Lianxing, 2020. "Import to invest: Impact of cultural goods on cross-border mergers and acquisitions," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 93(C), pages 354-364.
    11. Breuer, Wolfgang & Ghufran, Bushra & Salzmann, Astrid Juliane, 2018. "National culture, managerial preferences, and takeover performance," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1270-1289.
    12. Ghadhab, Imen & M’rad, Mouna, 2018. "Does US cross-listing come with incremental benefit for already UK cross-listed firms," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 188-204.
    13. Ahern, Kenneth R. & Daminelli, Daniele & Fracassi, Cesare, 2015. "Lost in translation? The effect of cultural values on mergers around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 117(1), pages 165-189.
    14. Breuer, Wolfgang & Ghufran, Bushra & Salzmann, Astrid Juliane, 2020. "Investors' time preferences and takeover performance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    15. Shi, Wei & Tang, Yinuo, 2015. "Cultural similarity as in-group favoritism: The impact of religious and ethnic similarities on alliance formation and announcement returns," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 32-46.
    16. Mariassunta Giannetti & Yishay Yafeh, 2012. "Do Cultural Differences Between Contracting Parties Matter? Evidence from Syndicated Bank Loans," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(2), pages 365-383, February.
    17. Lim, Jongha & Makhija, Anil K. & Shenkar, Oded, 2016. "The asymmetric relationship between national cultural distance and target premiums in cross-border M&A," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 542-571.
    18. Abdioglu, Nida & Khurshed, Arif & Stathopoulos, Konstantinos, 2013. "Foreign institutional investment: Is governance quality at home important?," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 916-940.
    19. Ahearne, Alan G. & Griever, William L. & Warnock, Francis E., 2004. "Information costs and home bias: an analysis of US holdings of foreign equities," Journal of International Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(2), pages 313-336, March.
    20. Leonardo M. Klüppel & Lamar Pierce & Jason A. Snyder, 2018. "Perspective—The Deep Historical Roots of Organization and Strategy: Traumatic Shocks, Culture, and Institutions," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 29(4), pages 702-721, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Executive compensation; Culture and finance; International; Corporate governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • B52 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Historical; Institutional; Evolutionary; Modern Monetary Theory;
    • Z13 - Other Special Topics - - Cultural Economics - - - Economic Sociology; Economic Anthropology; Language; Social and Economic Stratification

    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:corfin:v:33:y:2015:i:c:p:180-195. 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/jcorpfin .

    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.