Rights statement: This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, 13, 3, 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcae.2017.09.005
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Final published version
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to Journal/Magazine › Journal article › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Contractual features of CEO performance-vested equity compensation
AU - Gao, Zhan
AU - Hwang, Yuhchang
AU - Wu, Wan-Ting
N1 - This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, 13, 3, 2017 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcae.2017.09.005
PY - 2017/12
Y1 - 2017/12
N2 - We investigate the key contractual features of CEO performance-vested (p-v) equity compensation. We hypothesize that contractual features such as relative performance evaluation (RPE), the performance period length, and the number of performance metrics can be configured to improve the informativeness of performance metrics. Consistent with the hypotheses, we find that firms using market metrics are more likely to adopt RPE and long performance periods than firms using accounting metrics. The effects of performance metrics on RPE and performance periods remain prominent after we allow these features to be jointly determined. Moreover, we find that RPE is positively associated with longer performance periods, suggesting that the two features complement each other in improving the informativeness of performance metrics in p-v equity compensation. Our findings not only reveal the intricate relations between the contractual features, but also provide empirical support for the voting guidelines by proxy advisory services and have implications for the evolving practice of executive compensation.
AB - We investigate the key contractual features of CEO performance-vested (p-v) equity compensation. We hypothesize that contractual features such as relative performance evaluation (RPE), the performance period length, and the number of performance metrics can be configured to improve the informativeness of performance metrics. Consistent with the hypotheses, we find that firms using market metrics are more likely to adopt RPE and long performance periods than firms using accounting metrics. The effects of performance metrics on RPE and performance periods remain prominent after we allow these features to be jointly determined. Moreover, we find that RPE is positively associated with longer performance periods, suggesting that the two features complement each other in improving the informativeness of performance metrics in p-v equity compensation. Our findings not only reveal the intricate relations between the contractual features, but also provide empirical support for the voting guidelines by proxy advisory services and have implications for the evolving practice of executive compensation.
KW - CEO compensation
KW - contract design
KW - performance metrics
KW - relative performance evaluation
KW - performance period
KW - corporate governance
U2 - 10.1016/j.jcae.2017.09.005
DO - 10.1016/j.jcae.2017.09.005
M3 - Journal article
VL - 13
SP - 282
EP - 303
JO - Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics
JF - Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics
IS - 3
ER -