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Is leverage effective in increasing performance under managerial moral hazard?

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Author Info
Calcagno, R. (Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research)

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Abstract

We consider a model in which the principal-agent relation between inside shareholders and the management affects the firm value. We study the effect of financing the project with risky debt in changing the incentive for a risk-neutral shareholder (the principal) to implement the project-value maximizing contract. We show the conditions under which leverage generates agency costs in terms of an ex-ante reduction of the firm value. The result also implies that the optimal remuneration structure includes "low-incentive" bonus when the firm is highly leveraged. This inefficiency does not arise when the the agent is paid with shares of the firm. We can then conclude that the use of debt is effective as a commitment device to implement higher operative performance only if it is accompanied with a compensation policy based on shares remuneration.

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Paper provided by Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research in its series Discussion Paper with number 101.

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Date of creation: 2000
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Handle: RePEc:dgr:kubcen:2000101

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Find related papers by JEL classification:
G13 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Contingent Pricing; Futures Pricing
G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Capital and Ownership Structure

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  2. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicolás S., 1945-, 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Working papers 1523-84., Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management. [Downloadable!]
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  5. Myers, Stewart C. & Majluf, Nicholas S., 1984. "Corporate financing and investment decisions when firms have information that investors do not have," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 187-221, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  6. 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. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Innes, Robert D., 1990. "Limited liability and incentive contracting with ex-ante action choices," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 52(1), pages 45-67, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  8. Leland, Hayne E & Pyle, David H, 1977. "Informational Asymmetries, Financial Structure, and Financial Intermediation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 32(2), pages 371-87, May. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  9. Harrison, J. Michael & Kreps, David M., 1979. "Martingales and arbitrage in multiperiod securities markets," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 381-408, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Denis, David J., 1994. "Organizational form and the consequences of highly leveraged transactions: Kroger's recapitalization and Safeway's LBO," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 193-224, October. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  13. Grossman, Sanford J & Hart, Oliver D, 1983. "An Analysis of the Principal-Agent Problem," Econometrica, Econometric Society, vol. 51(1), pages 7-45, January. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  14. Stulz, ReneM., 1990. "Managerial discretion and optimal financing policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1), pages 3-27, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  15. Hart, Oliver & Moore, John, 1995. "Debt and Seniority: An Analysis of the Role of Hard Claims in Constraining Management," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 85(3), pages 567-85, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  16. Garvey, Gerald T. & Grant, Simon & King, Stephen P., 1998. "Talking down the firm: Short-term market manipulation and optimal management compensation," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 555-570, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Bengt Holmstrom, 1979. "Moral Hazard and Observability," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 74-91, Spring. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  18. Sanford J. Grossman & Oliver D. Hart, 1983. "Corporate Financial Structure and Managerial Incentives," NBER Reprints 0398, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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  19. Myers, Stewart C., 1977. "Determinants of corporate borrowing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(2), pages 147-175, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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Cited by:
(explanations, Please 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.)

  1. Neelam Jain, 2002. "Debt, Managerial Incentives and Learning," Discussion Papers 02-03, University of Copenhagen. Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. André SCHMITT & Sandrine SPAETER, 2002. "Improving the Prevention of Environmental Risks with Convertible Bonds," Working Papers of BETA 2002-14, Bureau d'Economie Théorique et Appliquée, ULP, Strasbourg. [Downloadable!]
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