IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/spacre/v15y2012i2p211-235.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Executive stock options and earnings management in the portuguese listed companies

Author

Listed:
  • Alves, Sandra

Abstract

Theoretically, executive stock options align managers’ and shareholders’ interests. However, previous studies have indicated that stock options may engender manager-shareholder conflicts (Jensen, 2005) and create incentives for earnings management (e.g. Jensen, Murphy and Wruck, 2004; Burns and Kedia, 2006; Efendi, Srivastava and Swanson, 2007). Therefore, this paper examines the implications of stock option grants on earnings management. In particular, we address the following question: Does stock options grant induce incentives for earnings management? Using a sample of 33 non-financial listed Portuguese firms-year from 2003 to 2010, we find that managers are more likely to engage in earnings management when they hold stock options. This study suggests that stock options may not always be effective in aligning the interests of managers and shareholders. Rather, executive stock options seem to affect the informational quality of earnings negatively, and consequently reduce the quality and value relevance of published financial data.

Suggested Citation

  • Alves, Sandra, 2012. "Executive stock options and earnings management in the portuguese listed companies," Revista de Contabilidad - Spanish Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(2), pages 211-235.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:spacre:v:15:y:2012:i:2:p:211-235
    DOI: 10.1016/S1138-4891(12)70043-2
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1138489112700432
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/S1138-4891(12)70043-2?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lisa Meulbroek, 2001. "The Efficiency of Equity-Linked Compensation: Understanding the Full Cost of Awarding Executive Stock Options," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 30(2), Summer.
    2. Bergstresser, Daniel & Philippon, Thomas, 2006. "CEO incentives and earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(3), pages 511-529, June.
    3. Hall, Brian J. & Murphy, Kevin J., 2002. "Stock options for undiversified executives," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-42, February.
    4. Burns, Natasha & Kedia, Simi, 2006. "The impact of performance-based compensation on misreporting," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(1), pages 35-67, January.
    5. 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.
    6. Mary E. Barth & Wayne R. Landsman & Mark H. Lang, 2008. "International Accounting Standards and Accounting Quality," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(3), pages 467-498, June.
    7. Mónica Melle, 2005. "¿Cómo valora el mercado de valores español la adopción de planes de opciones sobre acciones para directivos y consejeros?," Investigaciones Economicas, Fundación SEPI, vol. 29(1), pages 73-115, January.
    8. Guay, WR & Kothari, SP & Watts, RL, 1996. "A market-based evaluation of discretionary accrual models," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34, pages 83-105.
    9. K.V. Peasnell & P.F. Pope & S. Young, 2005. "Board Monitoring and Earnings Management: Do Outside Directors Influence Abnormal Accruals?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7‐8), pages 1311-1346, September.
    10. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    11. Jennifer J. Gaver & Kenneth M. Gaver, 1995. "Compensation Policy and the Investment Opportunity Set," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 24(1), Spring.
    12. Yermack, David, 1997. "Good Timing: CEO Stock Option Awards and Company News Announcements," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 449-476, June.
    13. Brian J. Hall & Kevin J. Murphy, 2003. "The Trouble with Stock Options," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 49-70, Summer.
    14. Efendi, Jap & Srivastava, Anup & Swanson, Edward P., 2007. "Why do corporate managers misstate financial statements? The role of option compensation and other factors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(3), pages 667-708, September.
    15. Baiman, Stanley, 1990. "Agency research in managerial accounting: A second look," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 15(4), pages 341-371.
    16. Martin Conyon & Richard B. Freeman, 2004. "Shared Modes of Compensation and Firm Performance U.K. Evidence," NBER Chapters, in: Seeking a Premier Economy: The Economic Effects of British Economic Reforms, 1980–2000, pages 109-146, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Norman Mohd Saleh & Takiah Mohd Iskandar & Mohd Mohid Rahmat, 2007. "Audit committee characteristics and earnings management: evidence from Malaysia," Asian Review of Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(2), pages 147-163, April.
    18. Fields, Thomas D. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Vincent, Linda, 2001. "Empirical research on accounting choice," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 255-307, September.
    19. Holger Daske & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz & Rodrigo Verdi, 2008. "Mandatory IFRS Reporting around the World: Early Evidence on the Economic Consequences," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(5), pages 1085-1142, December.
    20. Patricia M. Dechow & Richard G. Sloan & Amy P. Sweeney, 1996. "Causes and Consequences of Earnings Manipulation: An Analysis of Firms Subject to Enforcement Actions by the SEC," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 1-36, March.
    21. Gaver, Jennifer J. & Gaver, Kenneth M., 1993. "Additional evidence on the association between the investment opportunity set and corporate financing, dividend, and compensation policies," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1-3), pages 125-160, April.
    22. Jones, Jj, 1991. "Earnings Management During Import Relief Investigations," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 193-228.
    23. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "Corrigendum to "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings"; [Journal of Accounting and Economics 29 (2000) 1-51]," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 241-241, October.
    24. Kothari, S.P. & Leone, Andrew J. & Wasley, Charles E., 2005. "Performance matched discretionary accrual measures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 163-197, February.
    25. Guay, W. & Kothari, S.P. & Watts, R.L., 1996. "A Market-Based Evaluation of Discretionary-Accrual Models," Papers 96-01, Rochester, Business - Financial Research and Policy Studies.
    26. Klein, April, 2002. "Audit committee, board of director characteristics, and earnings management," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(3), pages 375-400, August.
    27. Yu Flora Kuang, 2008. "Performance-vested Stock Options and Earnings Management," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(9-10), pages 1049-1078.
    28. Liu, Qiao & Lu, Zhou (Joe), 2007. "Corporate governance and earnings management in the Chinese listed companies: A tunneling perspective," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 881-906, December.
    29. Xie, Biao & Davidson, Wallace III & DaDalt, Peter J., 2003. "Earnings management and corporate governance: the role of the board and the audit committee," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 9(3), pages 295-316, June.
    30. Dawna L. Rhoades & Paula L. Rechner & Chamu Sundaramurthy, 2001. "A Meta‐analysis of Board Leadership Structure and Financial Performance: are “two heads better than one”?," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 9(4), pages 311-319, October.
    31. Chung, Richard & Firth, Michael & Kim, Jeong-Bon, 2002. "Institutional monitoring and opportunistic earnings management," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 29-48, January.
    32. Hanlon, Michelle & Rajgopal, Shivaram & Shevlin, Terry, 2003. "Are executive stock options associated with future earnings?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(1-3), pages 3-43, December.
    33. Guidry, Flora & J. Leone, Andrew & Rock, Steve, 1999. "Earnings-based bonus plans and earnings management by business-unit managers1," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(1-3), pages 113-142, January.
    34. Ball, Ray & Kothari, S. P. & Robin, Ashok, 2000. "The effect of international institutional factors on properties of accounting earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 1-51, February.
    35. DeFond, Mark L. & Jiambalvo, James, 1994. "Debt covenant violation and manipulation of accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1-2), pages 145-176, January.
    36. Subramanyam, K. R., 1996. "The pricing of discretionary accruals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(1-3), pages 249-281, October.
    37. Brian J. Hall & Kevin J. Murphy, 2003. "The Trouble with Stock Options," NBER Working Papers 9784, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    38. Park, Yun W. & Shin, Hyun-Han, 2004. "Board composition and earnings management in Canada," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 431-457, June.
    39. Kato, Hideaki Kiyoshi & Lemmon, Michael & Luo, Mi & Schallheim, James, 2005. "An empirical examination of the costs and benefits of executive stock options: Evidence from Japan," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(2), pages 435-461, November.
    40. Chi‐Yih Yang & Hung‐Neng Lai & Boon Leing Tan, 2008. "Managerial Ownership Structure and Earnings Management," Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(1), pages 35-53, January.
    41. Cornett, Marcia Millon & Marcus, Alan J. & Tehranian, Hassan, 2008. "Corporate governance and pay-for-performance: The impact of earnings management," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(2), pages 357-373, February.
    42. Coles, Jeffrey L. & Hertzel, Michael & Kalpathy, Swaminathan, 2006. "Earnings management around employee stock option reissues," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(1-2), pages 173-200, April.
    43. K.V. Peasnell & P.F. Pope & S. Young, 2005. "Board Monitoring and Earnings Management: Do Outside Directors Influence Abnormal Accruals?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7-8), pages 1311-1346.
    44. Holthausen, Robert W. & Larcker, David F. & Sloan, Richard G., 1995. "Annual bonus schemes and the manipulation of earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 29-74, February.
    45. Ahmed Ebrahim, 2007. "Earnings management and board activity: an additional evidence," Review of Accounting and Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 6(1), pages 42-58, February.
    46. Booth, James R. & Cornett, Marcia Millon & Tehranian, Hassan, 2002. "Boards of directors, ownership, and regulation," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 26(10), pages 1973-1996, October.
    47. DeFond, Mark L. & Park, Chul W., 1997. "Smoothing income in anticipation of future earnings," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(2), pages 115-139, July.
    48. Sandra Alves, 2011. "The association between executive stock options and corporate performance: evidence from Portugal," International Journal of Business Governance and Ethics, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 6(2), pages 203-223.
    49. Aboody, David & Kasznik, Ron, 2000. "CEO stock option awards and the timing of corporate voluntary disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 29(1), pages 73-100, February.
    50. Healy, Paul M., 1985. "The effect of bonus schemes on accounting decisions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1-3), pages 85-107, April.
    51. Koh, Ping-Sheng, 2003. "On the association between institutional ownership and aggressive corporate earnings management in Australia," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 105-128.
    52. Michael C. Jensen, 2005. "Agency Costs of Overvalued Equity," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 34(1), Spring.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Mehdi Bouras & Mohamed Imen Gallali, 2017. "Earnings Management, Equity-based Compensation, Economic Conjuncture and Governance Mechanisms: A Comparative Study between France and the United States," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(2), pages 585-600.
    2. Mohammad M. Alhadab & Bassam Al-Own, 2017. "Earnings Management and Banks Performance: Evidence from Europe," International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, Human Resource Management Academic Research Society, International Journal of Academic Research in Accounting, Finance and Management Sciences, vol. 7(4), pages 134-145, October.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dechow, Patricia & Ge, Weili & Schrand, Catherine, 2010. "Understanding earnings quality: A review of the proxies, their determinants and their consequences," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 344-401, December.
    2. Nguyet T. M. Nguyen & Abdullah Iqbal & Radha K. Shiwakoti, 2022. "The context of earnings management and its ability to predict future stock returns," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 59(1), pages 123-169, July.
    3. Marra, Antonio & Mazzola, Pietro & Prencipe, Annalisa, 2011. "Board Monitoring and Earnings Management Pre- and Post-IFRS," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 205-230, June.
    4. Ugur Lel, 2019. "The role of foreign institutional investors in restraining earnings management activities across countries," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 50(6), pages 895-922, August.
    5. Chanchal Chatterjee, 2020. "Board Quality and Earnings Management: Evidence from India," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 21(5), pages 1302-1324, October.
    6. Carola Frydman & Dirk Jenter, 2010. "CEO Compensation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 75-102, December.
    7. Yu Flora Kuang, 2008. "Performance‐vested Stock Options and Earnings Management," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(9‐10), pages 1049-1078, November.
    8. Yu Flora Kuang, 2008. "Performance-vested Stock Options and Earnings Management," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(9-10), pages 1049-1078.
    9. Amjad Iqbal & Xianzhi Zhang & Khalil Jebran, 2015. "Corporate Governance and Earnings Management: A Case of Karachi Stock Exchange Listed Companies," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 8(2), pages 103-118, December.
    10. Georgios Voulgaris & Konstantinos Stathopoulos & Martin Walker, 2015. "CEO Pay Contracts and IFRS Reconciliations," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 63-93, May.
    11. Abdullah Alsaadi, 2021. "Can Inclusion in Religious Index Membership Mitigate Earnings Management?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 169(2), pages 333-354, March.
    12. Iatridis, George, 2010. "International Financial Reporting Standards and the quality of financial statement information," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 19(3), pages 193-204, June.
    13. Tsipouridou, Maria & Spathis, Charalambos, 2012. "Earnings management and the role of auditors in an unusual IFRS context: The case of Greece," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 21(1), pages 62-78.
    14. Neeraj K. Sehrawat & Amit Kumar & Nandita Lohia & Satvik Bansal & Tanya Agarwal, 2019. "Impact of Corporate Governance on Earnings Management: Large Sample Evidence from India," Asian Economic and Financial Review, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 9(12), pages 1335-1345, December.
    15. Pierre Bonetti & Antonio Parbonetti & Michel Magnan, 2013. "The Influence of Country- and Firm-Level Governance on Financial Reporting Quality: Revisiting the Evidence," CIRANO Working Papers 2013s-03, CIRANO.
    16. Efendi, Jap & Srivastava, Anup & Swanson, Edward P., 2007. "Why do corporate managers misstate financial statements? The role of option compensation and other factors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(3), pages 667-708, September.
    17. Wei Zhang & Steven F. Cahan, 2010. "Nonrecurring Accounting Transactions and Stock Option Grants," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(1-2), pages 93-129.
    18. Jorge Farinha & Luis Filipe Viana, 2006. "Board structure and modified audit opinions: the case of the Portuguese Stock Exchange," CEF.UP Working Papers 0609, Universidade do Porto, Faculdade de Economia do Porto.
    19. Nguyen, Quynh & Kim, Maria H. & Ali, Searat, 2024. "Corporate governance and earnings management: Evidence from Vietnamese listed firms," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 89(PA), pages 775-801.
    20. Mehdi Bouras & Mohamed Imen Gallali, 2017. "Earnings Management, Equity-based Compensation, Economic Conjuncture and Governance Mechanisms: A Comparative Study between France and the United States," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 7(2), pages 585-600.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:spacre:v:15:y:2012:i:2:p:211-235. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    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 CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc 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 RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.journals.elsevier.com/intelligence .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.