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Bank Bonus Pay as a Risk Sharing Contract

Author

Listed:
  • Matthias Efing

    (HEC Paris - Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales)

  • Harald Hau

    (UNIGE - Université de Genève = University of Geneva, Swiss Finance Institute)

  • Patrick Kampkötter

    (Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen = University of Tübingen)

  • Jean-Charles Rochet

    (TSE-R - Toulouse School of Economics - UT Capitole - Université Toulouse Capitole - Comue de Toulouse - Communauté d'universités et établissements de Toulouse - EHESS - École des hautes études en sciences sociales - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - INRAE - Institut National de Recherche pour l’Agriculture, l’Alimentation et l’Environnement, UNIGE - Université de Genève = University of Geneva)

Abstract

We argue that risk sharing motivates the bankwide structure of bonus pay. In the presence of financial frictions that make external financing costly, the optimal contract between shareholders and employees involves some degree of risk sharing whereby bonus pay partially absorbs negative earnings shocks. Using payroll data for 1.26 million employee-years in all functional divisions of Austrian, German, and Swiss banks, we uncover several empirical patterns in bonus pay that are difficult to rationalize exclusively with incentive theories of bonus pay but that support an important risk sharing motive. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix, which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online.

Suggested Citation

  • Matthias Efing & Harald Hau & Patrick Kampkötter & Jean-Charles Rochet, 2023. "Bank Bonus Pay as a Risk Sharing Contract," Post-Print hal-04050667, HAL.
  • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04050667
    DOI: 10.1093/rfs/hhac030
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    Cited by:

    1. Bertay, Ata Can & Carreño, José & Huizinga, Harry & Uras, Burak & Vellekoop, Nathanael, 2022. "Technological change and the finance wage premium," SAFE Working Paper Series 361, Leibniz Institute for Financial Research SAFE.
    2. Michael Haylock, 2022. "Distributional differences in the time horizon of executive compensation," Empirical Economics, Springer, vol. 62(1), pages 157-186, January.
    3. Ben Le & Nischala Reddy & Paula Hearn Moore, 2025. "The Determinants of CEO Compensation in the Banking Sector: A Comparison of the Influence of Cross-Listing and Loan Growth in Developed Versus Developing Countries," JRFM, MDPI, vol. 18(3), pages 1-17, March.
    4. Edward D. Van Wesep & Brian Waters, 2022. "Bonus Season: A Theory of Periodic Labor Markets and Coordinated Bonuses," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(7), pages 5464-5492, July.
    5. Wagner, Konstantin, 2020. "Competition, cost structure, and labour leverage: Evidence from the U.S. airline industry," IWH Discussion Papers 21/2020, Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH).

    More about this item

    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • G20 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - General
    • G21 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Banks; Other Depository Institutions; Micro Finance Institutions; Mortgages
    • D22 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - Firm Behavior: Empirical Analysis

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