IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/revfec/v41y2023i3p219-241.html

Industry tournament incentives and differential risk taking

Author

Listed:
  • Hussein Abdoh

Abstract

This study examines how industry tournament incentives affect chief executive officers' (CEOs') attitudes toward differential risk‐taking. The results show that these incentives cause a greater increase in taking systematic rather than idiosyncratic risks. Furthermore, this differential risk‐taking manifests in a competitive business environment. The findings hold robust to the instrumental variable approach and variation in industry pay gap following the adoption of FAS123R. Overall, the results suggest that the industry pay gap effectively increases CEOs' systematic risk‐taking, especially in competitive industries.

Suggested Citation

  • Hussein Abdoh, 2023. "Industry tournament incentives and differential risk taking," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 41(3), pages 219-241, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:wly:revfec:v:41:y:2023:i:3:p:219-241
    DOI: 10.1002/rfe.1173
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/rfe.1173
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/rfe.1173?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. Abdoh, Hussein & Varela, Oscar, 2017. "Product market competition, idiosyncratic and systematic volatility," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 500-513.
    2. Lambert, Ra & Larcker, Df & Verrecchia, Re, 1991. "Portfolio Considerations In Valuing Executive-Compensation," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(1), pages 129-149.
    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. Peter Demerjian & Baruch Lev & Sarah McVay, 2012. "Quantifying Managerial Ability: A New Measure and Validity Tests," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 58(7), pages 1229-1248, July.
    5. Christie, Andrew A., 1982. "The stochastic behavior of common stock variances : Value, leverage and interest rate effects," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 407-432, December.
    6. Srivastav, Abhishek & Keasey, Kevin & Mollah, Sabur & Vallascas, Francesco, 2017. "CEO turnover in large banks: Does tail risk matter?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(1), pages 37-55.
    7. Bizjak, John M. & Lemmon, Michael L. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2008. "Does the use of peer groups contribute to higher pay and less efficient compensation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 152-168, November.
    8. Karuna, Christo, 2007. "Industry product market competition and managerial incentives," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 43(2-3), pages 275-297, July.
    9. Agrawal, Anup & Knoeber, Charles R. & Tsoulouhas, Theofanis, 2006. "Are outsiders handicapped in CEO successions?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 619-644, June.
    10. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    11. Chen, Carl R. & Steiner, Thomas L. & Whyte, Ann Marie, 2006. "Does stock option-based executive compensation induce risk-taking? An analysis of the banking industry," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 915-945, March.
    12. Barber, Brad M. & Lyon, John D., 1996. "Detecting abnormal operating performance: The empirical power and specification of test statistics," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 359-399, July.
    13. Ferri, Fabrizio & Li, Nan, 2020. "Does Option-Based Compensation Affect Payout Policy? Evidence from FAS 123R," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 55(1), pages 291-329, February.
    14. Gerard Hoberg & Gordon Phillips, 2010. "Product Market Synergies and Competition in Mergers and Acquisitions: A Text-Based Analysis," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(10), pages 3773-3811, October.
    15. Tian, Yisong S., 2004. "Too much of a good incentive? The case of executive stock options," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(6), pages 1225-1245, June.
    16. Liu, Yixin & Mauer, David C., 2011. "Corporate cash holdings and CEO compensation incentives," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 183-198, October.
    17. Anand M. Goel & Anjan V. Thakor, 2008. "Overconfidence, CEO Selection, and Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(6), pages 2737-2784, December.
    18. Carl Hsin-han Shen & Hao Zhang, 2018. "Tournament Incentives and Firm Innovation," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 22(4), pages 1515-1548.
    19. Serfling, Matthew A., 2014. "CEO age and the riskiness of corporate policies," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 251-273.
    20. Carhart, Mark M, 1997. "On Persistence in Mutual Fund Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(1), pages 57-82, March.
    21. Vicky Henderson, 2005. "The impact of the market portfolio on the valuation, incentives and optimality of executive stock options," Quantitative Finance, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 5(1), pages 35-47.
    22. Gerard Hoberg & Gordon Phillips & Nagpurnanand Prabhala, 2014. "Product Market Threats, Payouts, and Financial Flexibility," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(1), pages 293-324, February.
    23. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Vashishtha, Rahul, 2012. "Executive stock options, differential risk-taking incentives, and firm value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 70-88.
    24. Huang, Jian & Jain, Bharat A. & Kini, Omesh, 2019. "Industry Tournament Incentives and the Product-Market Benefits of Corporate Liquidity," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 54(2), pages 829-876, April.
    25. Mishra, Dev R., 2014. "The dark side of CEO ability: CEO general managerial skills and cost of equity capital," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(C), pages 390-409.
    26. Abdoh, Hussein, 2019. "Product market competition and earnings exposure to productivity shocks," Economics Letters, Elsevier, vol. 174(C), pages 31-34.
    27. Paul J. Irvine & Jeffrey Pontiff, 2009. "Idiosyncratic Return Volatility, Cash Flows, and Product Market Competition," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 1149-1177, March.
    28. Jeffrey L Coles & Zhichuan (Frank) Li & Albert Y Wang, 2018. "Industry Tournament Incentives," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(4), pages 1418-1459.
    29. Paul J. Irvine & Jeffrey Pontiff, 2009. "Idiosyncratic Return Volatility, Cash Flows, and Product Market Competition," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(3), pages 1149-1177.
    30. Hayes, Rachel M. & Lemmon, Michael & Qiu, Mingming, 2012. "Stock options and managerial incentives for risk taking: Evidence from FAS 123R," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(1), pages 174-190.
    31. Duan, Jin-Chuan & Wei, Jason, 2005. "Executive stock options and incentive effects due to systematic risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 29(5), pages 1185-1211, May.
    32. Bushman, Robert & Dai, Zhonglan & Wang, Xue, 2010. "Risk and CEO turnover," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(3), pages 381-398, June.
    33. Faulkender, Michael & Yang, Jun, 2010. "Inside the black box: The role and composition of compensation peer groups," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 257-270, May.
    34. Kini, Omesh & Williams, Ryan, 2012. "Tournament incentives, firm risk, and corporate policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 103(2), pages 350-376.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Abdoh, Hussein, 2023. "Rivals risk-taking incentives and firm corporate policy," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 106-123.
    2. Timmermans, Oscar, 2024. "Cash versus share payouts in relative performance plans," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 123696, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Abdoh, Hussein & Liu, Yu, 2021. "Does R&D intensity matter in the executive risk incentives and firm risk relationship?," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 96(C), pages 13-24.
    4. Lingfei Kong & Gunratan Lonare & Ahmet Nart, 2022. "Industry tournament incentives and corporate innovation strategies," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 45(1), pages 124-161, March.
    5. Bakke, Tor-Erik & Feng, Felix Zhiyu & Mahmudi, Hamed & Zhu, Caroline H., 2022. "Foreign competition and CEO risk-incentive compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    6. Shah, Syed Zulfiqar Ali & Akbar, Saeed & Liu, Jia & Liu, Ziyu & Cao, Sichen, 2017. "CEO compensation and banks’ risk-taking during pre and post financial crisis periods," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 1489-1503.
    7. Rahman, Dewan & Kabir, Muhammad & Oliver, Barry, 2021. "Does exposure to product market competition influence insider trading profitability?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C).
    8. Chowdhury, Hasibul & Rahman, Shofiqur, 2023. "Do tournament incentives affect corporate dividend policy?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 152(C).
    9. Tu Nguyen & Jing Zhao, 2021. "Industry tournament incentives and corporate innovation," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 1797-1845, October.
    10. Niklas Kreilkamp & Sascha Matanovic & Maximilian Schmidt & Arnt Wöhrmann, 2023. "How executive incentive design affects risk-taking: a literature review," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(7), pages 2349-2374, October.
    11. Neyland, Jordan, 2020. "Love or money: The effect of CEO divorce on firm risk and compensation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 60(C).
    12. Chen, Jie & Su, Xunhua & Tian, Xuan & Xu, Bin, 2022. "Does customer-base structure influence managerial risk-taking incentives?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 462-483.
    13. Shen, Carl Hsin-han & Zhang, Hao, 2013. "CEO risk incentives and firm performance following R&D increases," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(4), pages 1176-1194.
    14. Thomas R. Kubick & G. Brandon Lockhart & David C. Mauer, 2024. "Industry tournament incentives and debt contracting," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 63(4), pages 1281-1321, November.
    15. Armstrong, Christopher S. & Vashishtha, Rahul, 2012. "Executive stock options, differential risk-taking incentives, and firm value," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(1), pages 70-88.
    16. Nguyen, Nam H. & Phan, Hieu V. & Phan, Hung V. & Tran, Dung T.T. & Vo, Hong, 2020. "Tournament-based incentives and mergers and acquisitions," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    17. Harris, Oneil & Nguyen, Trung, 2022. "Director co-option and future market share growth," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    18. Lee, Chien-Chiang & Wang, Chih-Wei & Wu, Yu-Ching, 2023. "CEO inside debt and downside risk: Evidence from internal and external environments," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    19. Sheng-Syan Chen & Keng-Yu Ho & Po-Hsin Ho, 2014. "CEO Overconfidence and Long-Term Performance Following R&D Increases," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 43(2), pages 245-269, June.
    20. Hyungshin Park & Dimitris Vrettos, 2015. "The Moderating Effect of Relative Performance Evaluation on the Risk Incentive Properties of Executives’ Equity Portfolios," Journal of Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 53(5), pages 1055-1108, December.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    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:wly:revfec:v:41:y:2023:i:3:p:219-241. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1873-5924 .

    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.