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Compensation and Board Structure: Evidence From the Insurance Industry

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  • David Mayers
  • Clifford W. Smith

Abstract

Monitoring by outside board members and incentive compensation provisions in executive pay packages are alternative mechanisms for controlling incentive problems between owners and managers. The control hypothesis suggests that if incentive conflicts vary materially, those firms with more outside directors also should implement a higher degree of pay‐for‐performance sensitivity. Our evidence is consistent with this control hypothesis. We document a relation between board structure and the extent to which executive compensation is tied to performance in mutuals: compensation changes are significantly more sensitive to changes in return on assets when the fraction of outsiders on the board is high.

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  • David Mayers & Clifford W. Smith, 2010. "Compensation and Board Structure: Evidence From the Insurance Industry," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 77(2), pages 297-327, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jrinsu:v:77:y:2010:i:2:p:297-327
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6975.2010.01352.x
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    2. M. Martin Boyer & Elijah Brewer & Willie Reddic, 2019. "The Association between Complexity and Managerial Discretion in the Property and Casualty Insurance Industry," Quarterly Journal of Finance (QJF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 9(03), pages 1-33, September.
    3. Willie Dion Reddic, 2021. "Under pressure: investment behaviour of insurers under different financial and regulatory conditions," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 46(1), pages 1-20, January.
    4. Luisa Anderloni & Ornella Moro & Alessandra Tanda, 2020. "Governance and Performance in Insurance Companies: A Bibliometric Analysis and A Meta-Analysis," International Journal of Economics and Finance, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 12(11), pages 1-1, November.
    5. Elena Merino & Montserrat Manzaneque & Yolanda Ramírez, 2019. "Value-added distribution to stakeholder of Spanish listed companies: a corporate governance perspective," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 23(3), pages 577-604, September.
    6. Adams, Mike & Baker, Paul L., 2021. "Does boardroom nationality affect the performance of UK insurers?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).
    7. Elena Merino & Montserrat Manzaneque & Alba Maria Priego, 2013. "“Board independence” and compensation structure of directors," Copernican Journal of Finance & Accounting, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 2(2), pages 125-152.
    8. Willie Dion Reddic, 0. "Under pressure: investment behaviour of insurers under different financial and regulatory conditions," The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, Palgrave Macmillan;The Geneva Association, vol. 0, pages 1-20.

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