Stock options and managerial optimal contracts
Abstract
In this paper we are concerned with the performance of stock option contracts in the provision of managerial incentives. In our simple framework, we restrict the space of contracts available to the principal to those conformed by a fixed payment and a call option on the firm’s stock. As compared to the fixed payment and the option grant, we find that the strike price plays an intermediate role in the provision of insurance and incentives. We also develop some methods for the calibration of a standard principal-agent model based upon observed CEO earnings schedules and the volatility of the firm’s value in the stock market. These methods are useful to address some important issues such as the performance of stock option contracts, the degree of risk aversion compatible with current earnings profiles and the sensitivity of compensation to changes in firm’s characteristics. Copyright Springer-Verlag Berlin/Heidelberg 2005Download Info
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Bibliographic Info
Article provided by Springer in its journal Economic Theory.
Volume (Year): 26 (2005)
Issue (Month): 4 (November)
Pages: 813-837
Contact details of provider:
Web page: http://link.springer.de/link/service/journals/00199/index.htm
Order Information:
Web: http://link.springer.de/orders.htm
Related research
Keywords: Stock option contract; Optimal contract; CEO earnings schedule; Stock price.;Other versions of this item:
- Manuel Santos & Jorge Aseff, . "Stock Options and Managerial Optimal Contracts," Working Papers 2133304, Department of Economics, W. P. Carey School of Business, Arizona State University.
References
References listed on IDEASPlease report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
- Guillermo Caruana & Marco Celentani, 2001. "Career Concerns And Contingent Compensation," Economics Working Papers we014811, Universidad Carlos III, Departamento de Economía.
- R. Mehra & E. Prescott, 2010.
"The equity premium: a puzzle,"
Levine's Working Paper Archive
1401, David K. Levine.
- Mehra, Rajnish & Prescott, Edward C., 1985. "The equity premium: A puzzle," Journal of Monetary Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 145-161, March.
- Christopher Phelan & Robert M Townsend, 2010.
"Computing Multi-Period, Information Constrained Optima,"
Levine's Working Paper Archive
117, David K. Levine.
- Phelan, Christopher & Townsend, Robert M, 1991. "Computing Multi-period, Information-Constrained Optima," Review of Economic Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 58(5), pages 853-81, October.
- Phelan, C. & Townsend, R.M., 1990. "Computing Multiperiod, Information-Constrained Optima," University of Chicago - Economics Research Center 90-13, Chicago - Economics Research Center.
- Joseph G. Haubrich, 1991.
"Risk aversion, performance pay, and the principal-agent problem,"
Working Paper
9118, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
- Haubrich, Joseph G, 1994. "Risk Aversion, Performance Pay, and the Principal-Agent Problem," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(2), pages 258-76, April.
- Wang, Cheng, 1997. "Incentives, CEO Compensation, and Shareholder Wealth in a Dynamic Agency Model," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 76(1), pages 72-105, September.
- Page, Frank Jr., 1987. "The existence of optimal contracts in the principal-agent model," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2), pages 157-167, April.
- Laffont, Jean-Jacques & Tirole, Jean, 1986.
"Using Cost Observation to Regulate Firms,"
Journal of Political Economy,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 614-41, June.
- Jean Tirole & Jean-Jaques Laffont, 1985. "Using Cost Observation to Regulate Firms," Working papers 368, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
- Gibbons, Robert & Murphy, Kevin J, 1992.
"Optimal Incentive Contracts in the Presence of Career Concerns: Theory and Evidence,"
Journal of Political Economy,
University of Chicago Press, vol. 100(3), pages 468-505, June.
- Murphy, K.J. & Gibbons, R., 1990. "Optimal Incentive Contracts in the Presence of Career Concerns : Theory and Evidence," Papers 90-09, Rochester, Business - Managerial Economics Research Center.
- Gibbons, R. & Murphy, K.J., 1990. "Optimal Incentive Contracts In The Presence Of Career Concerns: Theory And Evidence," Working papers 563, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Department of Economics.
- Bengt Holmstrom & Paul R. Milgrom, 1985.
"Aggregation and Linearity in the Provision of Intertemporal Incentives,"
Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers
742, Cowles Foundation for Research in Economics, Yale University.
- Holmstrom, Bengt & Milgrom, Paul, 1987. "Aggregation and Linearity in the Provision of Intertemporal Incentives," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 55(2), pages 303-28, March.
- Edward S. Prescott, 1998. "Computing moral-hazard problems using the Dantzig-Wolfe decomposition algorithm," Working Paper 98-06, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
- Brian J. Hall & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 1998.
"Are CEOs Really Paid Like Bureaucrats?,"
The Quarterly Journal of Economics,
MIT Press, vol. 113(3), pages 653-691, August.
- Brian J. Hall & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 1997. "Are CEOs Really Paid Like Bureaucrats?," NBER Working Papers 6213, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Santos, Manuel S., 1999. "Numerical solution of dynamic economic models," Handbook of Macroeconomics, in: J. B. Taylor & M. Woodford (ed.), Handbook of Macroeconomics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 5, pages 311-386 Elsevier.
- Prendergast, Canice & Stole, Lars, 1996. "Impetuous Youngsters and Jaded Old-Timers: Acquiring a Reputation for Learning," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 104(6), pages 1105-34, December.
- Holmstrom, Bengt, 1999.
"Managerial Incentive Problems: A Dynamic Perspective,"
Review of Economic Studies,
Wiley Blackwell, vol. 66(1), pages 169-82, January.
- Bengt Holmstrom, 1999. "Managerial Incentive Problems: A Dynamic Perspective," NBER Working Papers 6875, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Robert Gibbons & Kevin J. Murphy, 1992. "Optimal Incentive Contracts in the Presence of Career Concerns: Theory and Evidence," NBER Working Papers 3792, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
- Edward S. Prescott, 1999. "A primer on moral-hazard models," Economic Quarterly, Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, issue Win, pages 47-78.
- Joseph G. Haubrich & Ivilina Popova, 1994.
"Executive compensation: a calibration approach,"
Working Paper
9416, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland.
- Ivilina Popova & Joseph G. Haubrich, 1998. "Executive compensation: a calibration approach," Economic Theory, Springer, vol. 12(3), pages 561-581.
- R. Preston McAfee & John McMillan, 1987. "Competition for Agency Contracts," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 18(2), pages 296-307, Summer.
- 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.
Citations
Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.Cited by:
- Gian Luca Clementi & Thomas F. Cooley & Cheng Wang, .
"Stock Grants as Commitment Device,"
GSIA Working Papers
2002-E12, Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business.
- Clementi, Gian Luca & Cooley, Thomas F. & Wang, Cheng, 2006. "Stock grants as a commitment device," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2191-2216, November.
- Clementi, Gian Luca & Cooley, Thomas F. & Wang, Cheng, 2006. "Stock Grants As a Commitment Device," Staff General Research Papers 12300, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
- Arantxa Jarque, 2008. "Optimal CEO compensation and stock options," Working Papers. Serie EC 2008-04, Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Económicas, S.A. (Ivie).
- 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.
- Kang, Qiang & Mitnik, Oscar A., 2008. "Not So Lucky Any More: CEO Compensation in Financially Distressed Firms," IZA Discussion Papers 3857, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA).
- Calcagno, R. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2004.
"Capital Structure and Managerial Compensation: The Effects of Renumeration Seniority,"
Discussion Paper
2004-120, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
- Calcagno, R. & Renneboog, L.D.R., 2004. "Capital Structure and Managerial Compensation: The Effects of Remuneration Seniority," Discussion Paper 2004-015, Tilburg University, Tilburg Law and Economic Center.
- Scott Fung & Hoje Jo & Shih-Chuan Tsai, 2009. "Agency problems in stock market-driven acquisitions," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 8(4), pages 388 - 430, November.
- Charles Goodhart & Pojanart Sunirand & Dimitrios Tsomocos, 2006.
"A Time Series Analysis of Financial Fragility in the UK Banking System,"
Annals of Finance,
Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-21, January.
- Charles A.E. Goodhart & Pojanart Sunirand & Dimitrios P. Tsomocos, 2004. "A Time Series Analysis of Financial Fragility in the UK Banking System," OFRC Working Papers Series 2004fe18, Oxford Financial Research Centre.
- Christopher Armstrong & David Larcker & Che-Lin Su, 2007. "Stock Options and Chief Executive Compensation," Discussion Papers 1447, Northwestern University, Center for Mathematical Studies in Economics and Management Science.
- Pirjetä, Antti & Ikäheimo, Seppo & Puttonen, Vesa, 2010. "Market pricing of executive stock options and implied risk preferences," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(3), pages 394-412, June.
- Gian Luca Clementi & Thomas Cooley & Chen Wang, 2004.
"Stock Grants as a Committment Device,"
Working Papers
04-24, New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business, Department of Economics.
- Clementi, Gian Luca & Cooley, Thomas F. & Wang, Cheng, 2006. "Stock grants as a commitment device," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 30(11), pages 2191-2216, November.
- Clementi, Gian Luca & Cooley, Thomas F. & Wang, Cheng, 2006. "Stock Grants As a Commitment Device," Staff General Research Papers 12300, Iowa State University, Department of Economics.
Lists
This item is not listed on Wikipedia, on a reading list or among the top items on IDEAS.Statistics
Access and download statisticsCorrections
When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:joecth:v:26:y:2005:i:4:p:813-837For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: (Guenther Eichhorn) or (Christopher F Baum).
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 references are entirely missing, you can add them using this form.
If the full references list an item that is present in RePEc, but the system did not link 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 profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.
Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

