IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/nbr/nberwo/20476.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Strategic News Releases in Equity Vesting Months

Author

Listed:
  • Alex Edmans
  • Luis Goncalves-Pinto
  • Yanbo Wang
  • Moqi Xu

Abstract

We show that CEOs strategically time corporate news releases to coincide with months in which their equity vests. These vesting months are determined by equity grants made several years prior, and thus unlikely driven by the current information environment. CEOs reallocate news into vesting months, and away from prior and subsequent months. They release 5% more discretionary news in vesting months than prior months, but there is no difference for non-discretionary news. These news releases lead to favourable media coverage, suggesting they are positive in tone. They also generate a temporary run-up in stock prices and market liquidity, potentially resulting from increased investor attention or reduced information asymmetry. The CEO takes advantage of these effects by cashing out shortly after the news releases.

Suggested Citation

  • Alex Edmans & Luis Goncalves-Pinto & Yanbo Wang & Moqi Xu, 2014. "Strategic News Releases in Equity Vesting Months," NBER Working Papers 20476, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:20476
    Note: CF
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.nber.org/papers/w20476.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Nagar, Venky & Nanda, Dhananjay & Wysocki, Peter, 2003. "Discretionary disclosure and stock-based incentives," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 34(1-3), pages 283-309, January.
    3. Antoine Faure-Grimaud, 2004. "Public Trading and Private Incentives," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 17(4), pages 985-1014.
    4. Meulbroek, Lisa K, 1992. "An Empirical Analysis of Illegal Insider Trading," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 47(5), pages 1661-1699, December.
    5. Kahl, Matthias & Liu, Jun & Longstaff, Francis A., 2003. "Paper millionaires: how valuable is stock to a stockholder who is restricted from selling it?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 385-410, March.
    6. Vyacheslav Fos & Wei Jiang, 2016. "Out-of-the-Money CEOs: Private Control Premium and Option Exercises," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 29(6), pages 1549-1585.
    7. Yihui Pan & Tracy Yue Wang & Michael S. Weisbach, 2015. "Learning About CEO Ability and Stock Return Volatility," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 28(6), pages 1623-1666.
    8. Carr Bettis & John Bizjak & Jeffrey Coles & Swaminathan Kalpathy, 2010. "Stock and Option Grants with Performance-based Vesting Provisions," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 23(10), pages 3849-3888, October.
    9. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    10. Bhattacharya, Utpal & Spiegel, Matthew, 1991. "Insiders, Outsiders, and Market Breakdowns," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 4(2), pages 255-282.
    11. Erik Lie, 2005. "On the Timing of CEO Stock Option Awards," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 51(5), pages 802-812, May.
    12. Valentin Dimitrov & Prem C. Jain, 2011. "It's Showtime: Do Managers Report Better News Before Annual Shareholder Meetings?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(5), pages 1193-1221, December.
    13. Brian J. Hall & Jeffrey B. Liebman, 1998. "Are CEOs Really Paid Like Bureaucrats?," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 113(3), pages 653-691.
    14. Amihud, Yakov, 2002. "Illiquidity and stock returns: cross-section and time-series effects," Journal of Financial Markets, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 31-56, January.
    15. Kenneth R. Ahern & Denis Sosyura, 2014. "Who Writes the News? Corporate Press Releases during Merger Negotiations," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(1), pages 241-291, February.
    16. Alex Edmans & Xavier Gabaix & Dirk Jenter, 2017. "Executive Compensation: A Survey of Theory and Evidence," NBER Working Papers 23596, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    17. Diamond, Douglas W & Verrecchia, Robert E, 1991. "Disclosure, Liquidity, and the Cost of Capital," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 46(4), pages 1325-1359, September.
    18. Boulland, Romain & Dessaint, Olivier, 2017. "Announcing the announcement," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 82(C), pages 59-79.
    19. Chambers, Ae & Penman, Sh, 1984. "Timeliness Of Reporting And The Stock-Price Reaction To Earnings Announcements," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 21-47.
    20. Karthik Balakrishnan & Mary Brooke Billings & Bryan Kelly & Alexander Ljungqvist, 2014. "Shaping Liquidity: On the Causal Effects of Voluntary Disclosure," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(5), pages 2237-2278, October.
    21. Neuhierl, Andreas & Scherbina, Anna & Schlusche, Bernd, 2013. "Market Reaction to Corporate Press Releases," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 48(4), pages 1207-1240, August.
    22. Daines, Robert M. & McQueen, Grant R. & Schonlau, Robert J., 2018. "Right on Schedule: CEO Option Grants and Opportunism," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 53(3), pages 1025-1058, June.
    23. Alex Edmans & Vivian W. Fang & Katharina A. Lewellen, 2013. "Equity Vesting and Managerial Myopia," NBER Working Papers 19407, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    24. 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.
    25. David C. Cicero, 2009. "The Manipulation of Executive Stock Option Exercise Strategies: Information Timing and Backdating," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(6), pages 2627-2663, December.
    26. Mark Bagnoli & William Kross & Susan G. Watts, 2002. "The Information in Management’s Expected Earnings Report Date: A Day Late, a Penny Short," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 40(5), pages 1275-1296, December.
    27. Ulf Von Lilienfeld-Toal & Stefan Ruenzi, 2014. "CEO Ownership, Stock Market Performance, and Managerial Discretion," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(3), pages 1013-1050, June.
    28. Brockman, Paul & Khurana, Inder K. & Martin, Xiumin, 2008. "Voluntary disclosures around share repurchases," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(1), pages 175-191, July.
    29. Torsten Jochem & Tomislav Ladika & Zacharias Sautner, 2018. "The Retention Effects of Unvested Equity: Evidence from Accelerated Option Vesting," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 31(11), pages 4142-4186.
    30. Alex Edmans & Vivian W. Fang & Katharina A. Lewellen, 2017. "Equity Vesting and Investment," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 30(7), pages 2229-2271.
    31. 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.
    32. Noe, Christopher F., 1999. "Voluntary disclosures and insider transactions," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 305-326, July.
    33. Darren T. Roulstone, 2003. "The Relation Between Insider‐Trading Restrictions and Executive Compensation," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(3), pages 525-551, June.
    34. Brad M. Barber & Terrance Odean, 2008. "All That Glitters: The Effect of Attention and News on the Buying Behavior of Individual and Institutional Investors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 21(2), pages 785-818, April.
    35. Radhakrishnan Gopalan & Todd Milbourn & Fenghua Song & Anjan V. Thakor, 2014. "Duration of Executive Compensation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 69(6), pages 2777-2817, December.
    36. Yermack, David, 2014. "Tailspotting: Identifying and profiting from CEO vacation trips," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 113(2), pages 252-269.
    37. Philip Bond & Alex Edmans & Itay Goldstein, 2012. "The Real Effects of Financial Markets," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 4(1), pages 339-360, October.
    38. Adams, Renée B. & Ferreira, Daniel, 2008. "Do directors perform for pay?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(1), pages 154-171, September.
    39. Qiang Cheng & Kin Lo, 2006. "Insider Trading and Voluntary Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(5), pages 815-848, December.
    40. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2011. "When Is a Liability Not a Liability? Textual Analysis, Dictionaries, and 10‐Ks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 35-65, February.
    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. Blankespoor, Elizabeth & deHaan, Ed & Marinovic, Iván, 2020. "Disclosure processing costs, investors’ information choice, and equity market outcomes: A review," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(2).
    2. Beyer, Anne & Cohen, Daniel A. & Lys, Thomas Z. & Walther, Beverly R., 2010. "The financial reporting environment: Review of the recent literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(2-3), pages 296-343, December.
    3. Guanming He, 2023. "How do insider trading incentives shape nonfinancial disclosures? Evidence from product and business expansion disclosures," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 60(1), pages 147-194, January.
    4. Rahman, Dewan & Oliver, Barry & Faff, Robert, 2020. "Evidence of strategic information uncertainty around opportunistic insider purchases," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    5. Edmans, Alex & Gosling, Tom & Jenter, Dirk, 2023. "CEO compensation: Evidence from the field," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 150(3).
    6. Carola Frydman & Dirk Jenter, 2010. "CEO Compensation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 75-102, December.
    7. Brockman, Paul & Martin, Xiumin & Puckett, Andy, 2010. "Voluntary disclosures and the exercise of CEO stock options," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 16(1), pages 120-136, February.
    8. Heitzman, Shane, 2011. "Equity grants to target CEOs during deal negotiations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(2), pages 251-271.
    9. Craig W. Holden & Stacey Jacobsen & Avanidhar Subrahmanyam, 2014. "The Empirical Analysis of Liquidity," Foundations and Trends(R) in Finance, now publishers, vol. 8(4), pages 263-365, December.
    10. Sung, Hao-Chang & Ho, Shirley J., 2023. "Disclosure strategies for management earnings forecasts: The role of managerial compensation structures, overoptimism, and effort," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(1).
    11. Alan D. Jagolinzer, 2009. "SEC Rule 10b5-1 and Insiders' Strategic Trade," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 55(2), pages 224-239, February.
    12. Alex Edmans & Vivian W. Fang & Allen H. Huang, 2022. "The Long‐Term Consequences of Short‐Term Incentives," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(3), pages 1007-1046, June.
    13. Randall A. Heron & Erik Lie, 2017. "Do Stock Options Overcome Managerial Risk Aversion? Evidence from Exercises of Executive Stock Options," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 63(9), pages 3057-3071, September.
    14. Martin Nienhaus, 2022. "Executive equity incentives and opportunistic manager behavior: new evidence from a quasi-natural experiment," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 27(4), pages 1276-1318, December.
    15. Hongfei Tang, 2014. "Are CEO stock option grants optimal? Evidence from family firms and non-family firms around the Sarbanes–Oxley Act," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 251-292, February.
    16. 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.
    17. Cheng, Lin & Jin, Qinglu & Ma, Hui, 2023. "Tone emphasis and insider trading," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    18. Devos, Erik & Elliott, William B. & Warr, Richard S., 2015. "CEO opportunism?: Option grants and stock trades around stock splits," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(1), pages 18-35.
    19. Stacey Beaumont & Raluca Ratiu & David Reeb & Glenn Boyle & Philip Brown & Alexander Szimayer & Raymond Silva Rosa & David Hillier & Patrick McColgan & Athanasios Tsekeris & Bryan Howieson & Zoltan Ma, 2016. "Comments on Shan and Walter: ‘Towards a Set of Design Principles for Executive Compensation Contracts’," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 52(4), pages 685-771, December.
    20. Fich, Eliezer M. & Cai, Jie & Tran, Anh L., 2011. "Stock option grants to target CEOs during private merger negotiations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 413-430, August.

    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G14 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Information and Market Efficiency; Event Studies; Insider Trading
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance

    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:nbr:nberwo:20476. 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: the person in charge (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/nberrus.html .

    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.