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Are Perks Purely Managerial Excess?

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Author Info
Raghuram Rajan
Julie Wulf

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Abstract

Why do some firms tend to offer executives a variety of perks while others offer none at all? A widespread view in the corporate finance literature is that executive perks are a form of agency or private benefit and a way for managers to misappropriate some of the surplus the firm generates. According to this view, firms with plenty of free cash flow that operate in industries with limited investment prospects should typically offer perks. The theory also suggests that firms that are subject to more external monitoring should have fewer perks. Overall, the evidence for the private benefits explanation is, at best, mixed. We do, however, find evidence that perks are offered most in situations where they are likely to enhance managerial productivity. This suggests that a view of perks that sees them purely as managerial excess is incorrect.

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Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number 10494.

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Date of creation: May 2004
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Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:10494

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G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance
J3 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs

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References listed on IDEAS
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.:
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  6. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1986. "Large Shareholders and Corporate Control," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 94(3), pages 461-88, June. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Calvo, Guillermo A & Wellisz, Stanislaw, 1979. "Hierarchy, Ability, and Income Distribution," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 87(5), pages 991-1010, October. [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. Joon Song, 2008. "Perks: Contractual Arrangements to Restrain Moral Hazard," Economics Discussion Papers 650, University of Essex, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  2. Carola Frydman & Raven S. Molloy, 2009. "Does tax policy affect executive compensation? evidence from postwar tax reforms," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2009-30, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.). [Downloadable!]
  3. Takao Kato & Cheryl Long, 2005. "Executive Compensation, Firm Performance, and Corporate Governance in China: Evidence from Firms Listed in the Shanghai and Shenzhen Stock Exchanges," IZA Discussion Papers 1767, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  4. Sebastian Kube & Michel André Maréchal & Clemens Puppe, 2008. "The Currency of Reciprocity - Gift-Exchange in the Workplace," IEW - Working Papers iewwp377, Institute for Empirical Research in Economics - IEW. [Downloadable!]
  5. Emmanuelle Auriol & Régis Renault, 2007. "Status and Incentives," THEMA Working Papers 2007-01, THEMA (THéorie Economique, Modélisation et Applications), Université de Cergy-Pontoise. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  6. Alex Edmans & Xavier Gabaix & Augustin Landier, 2007. "A Calibratable Model of Optimal CEO Incentives in Market Equilibrium," NBER Working Papers 13372, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  7. Anthony Marino & Jan Zabojnik, 2006. "Work-Related Perks, Agency Problems, and Optimal Incentive Contracts," Working Papers 1107, Queen's University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  8. Kalpana Kochhar & Utsav Kumar & Raghuram Rajan & Arvind Subramanian, 2006. "India's Patterns of Development: What Happened, What Follows," NBER Working Papers 12023, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
    Other versions:
  9. Carola Frydman & Raven E. Saks, 2008. "Executive Compensation: A New View from a Long-Term Perspective, 1936-2005," NBER Working Papers 14145, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  10. Ulrike Malmendier & Geoffrey Tate, 2008. "Superstar CEOs," NBER Working Papers 14140, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Paul Oyer, 2005. "Salary or Benefits?," NBER Working Papers 11817, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. Roosenboom, P.G.J. & Schramade, W.L.J., 2005. "The Price Of Power: Valuing The Controlling Position Of Owner-Managers In French Ipo Firms," Research Paper ERS-2005-011-F&A Revision, Erasmus Research Institute of Management (ERIM), ERIM is the joint research institute of the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University and the Erasmus School of Economics (ESE) at Erasmus Uni. [Downloadable!]
  13. Patricia Crifo & Marc-Arthur Diaye, 2005. "The Composition of Compensation Policy: From Cash to Fringe Benefits," Working Papers hal-00243030_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
  14. Anthony Marino & Jan Zabojnik, 2006. "A Rent Extraction View of Employee Discounts and Benefits," Working Papers 1108, Queen's University, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
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