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Stocking up: Executive optimism, option exercise, and share retention

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  • Sen, Rik
  • Tumarkin, Robert

Abstract

We show that an executive is optimistic about her company׳s prospects if and only if she retains some of the shares received whenever she exercises company stock options. Empirically, an indicator of optimism based on this idea matches the expected relations between optimism and corporate decision-making better than commonly used indicators based on the timing of option exercise. This makes sense, as our model of an executive׳s optimal option exercise and portfolio choice demonstrates that the timing of option exercise depends just as much on stock and other executive characteristics as it does on optimism.

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  • Sen, Rik & Tumarkin, Robert, 2015. "Stocking up: Executive optimism, option exercise, and share retention," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(2), pages 399-430.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jfinec:v:118:y:2015:i:2:p:399-430
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2015.08.001
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    5. Malmendier, Ulrike M. & Pezone, Vincenzo & Zheng, Hui, 2020. "Managerial Duties and Managerial Biases," CEPR Discussion Papers 14929, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    6. Banerjee, Suman & Dai, Lili & Humphery-Jenner, Mark & Nanda, Vikram, 2020. "Governance, board inattention, and the appointment of overconfident CEOs," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    7. Drobetz, Wolfgang & Mussbach, Emil & Westheide, Christian, 2020. "Corporate insider trading and return skewness," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    8. Tobias Heizer & Laura R. Rettig, 2020. "Top management team optimism and its influence on firms' financing and investment decisions," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(4), pages 601-622, October.
    9. Chen, Jie & Leung, Woon Sau & Song, Wei & Goergen, Marc, 2019. "Why female board representation matters: The role of female directors in reducing male CEO overconfidence," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 53(C), pages 70-90.
    10. Wang, Jian & Wang, Xiaoting & Zhuang, Xintian & Yang, Jun, 2017. "Optimism bias, portfolio delegation, and economic welfare," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 111-113.
    11. Tim R. Adam & Valentin Burg & Tobias Scheinert & Daniel Streitz, 2020. "Managerial Biases and Debt Contract Design: The Case of Syndicated Loans," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 66(1), pages 352-375, January.
    12. Todd Mitton, 2022. "Methodological Variation in Empirical Corporate Finance," Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 35(2), pages 527-575.
    13. Hatoum, Khalil & Moussu, Christophe & Gillet, Roland, 2022. "CEO overconfidence: Towards a new measure," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Optimism; Executive stock option; Exercise policy; Optimism measures; Corporate financial policies;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G11 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Portfolio Choice; Investment Decisions
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

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