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Uncertainty, investment, and managerial incentives

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  • Glover, Brent
  • Levine, Oliver

Abstract

This study provides evidence that managerial incentives, shaped by compensation contracts, help to explain the empirical relationship between uncertainty and investment. We develop a model in which the manager, compensated with an equity-based contract, makes investment decisions for a firm that faces time-varying volatility. The contract creates incentives that affect both the sign and magnitude of a manager׳s optimal response to volatility shocks. The model is calibrated using compensation data to quantify this predicted investment response for a large panel of firms. Our estimates help explain the variation in firm-level investment responses to volatility shocks observed in the data.

Suggested Citation

  • Glover, Brent & Levine, Oliver, 2015. "Uncertainty, investment, and managerial incentives," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 121-137.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:moneco:v:69:y:2015:i:c:p:121-137
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jmoneco.2014.11.004
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    5. Stéphane Lhuissier & Fabien Tripier, 2016. "Do Uncertainty Shocks Always Matter for Business Cycles?," Working Papers 2016-19, CEPII research center.
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    13. Claudiu Tiberiu Albulescu & Şerban Miclea & Simina Silvana Suciu & Matei Tămăşilă, 2018. "Firm-level investment in the extractive industry from CEE countries: the role of macroeconomic uncertainty and internal conditions," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 8(2), pages 193-208, June.
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    16. N Aaron Pancost & Roberto Robatto & Itay Goldstein, 2023. "The Effects of Capital Requirements on Good and Bad Risk-Taking," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 36(2), pages 733-774.
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    18. Murat Alp Celik & Xu Tian, 2023. "Agency Frictions, Managerial Compensation, and Disruptive Innovations," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 51, pages 16-38, December.
    19. Glover, Brent & Levine, Oliver, 2017. "Idiosyncratic risk and the manager," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(2), pages 320-341.
    20. Caixe, Daniel Ferreira & Kalatzis, Aquiles Elie Guimarães & Castro, Luiz Ricardo Kabbach de, 2019. "Controlling shareholders and investment-risk sensitivity in an emerging economy," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 133-153.
    21. Rajdeep Chakraborti & Sandeep Dahiya & Lei Ge & Pedro Gete, 2022. "Credit Stimulus, Executive Ownership, and Firm Leverage," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(10), pages 7682-7700, October.
    22. Caixe, Daniel Ferreira, 2022. "Corporate governance and investment sensitivity to policy uncertainty in Brazil," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 51(PB).
    23. Deng, Binbin, 2016. "A Simple Model of Managerial Incentives and Portfolio-Investment Decision," MPRA Paper 79959, University Library of Munich, Germany.

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