The effect of analyst coverage on CEO compensation structure: evidence from the S & P 1500

2016 ◽  
Vol 42 (3) ◽  
pp. 191-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shin-Rong Shiah-Hou

Purpose – What is the role of analysts in reducing agency problems and information asymmetry between stockholders and managers? The purpose of this paper is to confirm the analyst’s role by examining his or her influence on CEO compensation structure. Design/methodology/approach – The major population for this study consists of publicly traded corporations of the S & P 1500 for which data on CEO compensation is available from Standard & Poor’s Execucomp database, along with the proxy statements of these firms. Regression analysis is used to test hypotheses about the effect of analyst coverage on CEO compensation. Findings – The evidence shows that CEOs of firms with greater analyst coverage or higher analyst coverage quality (analyst coverage index) have higher pay-for-performance (Delta), more compensation incentives to increase firm risk (Vega), more total compensation, and more excess compensation. Even after controlling for the effect of other types of corporate governance, including internal governance and institutional holdings, analysts’ activities still have an incremental effect on CEO compensation structure. Practical implications – The authors findings may be useful to investors who use analyst coverage to evaluate the firm’s CEO compensation, as it suggests that investors may reference the information about analyst coverage of firms to craft appropriate CEO compensation structures. Originality/value – The authors results contribute by showing that the extra effect of analyst activities on CEO compensation structure exists, even after controlling for other types of governance mechanisms, such as internal governance and institutional investors’ holdings.

2020 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Ruonan Liu

Purpose This study aims to examine whether compensation committees dominated by co-opted directors are less effective in mitigating the CEO horizon problem. Design/methodology/approach The author uses a sample of 7,280 firm-year observations from 1998 to 2011. Findings In this study, the author finds evidence of opportunistic research and development (R&D) reduction and accruals management in firms with retiring CEOs and compensation committees dominated by co-opted directors. Moreover, it is found that R&D reduction and income-increasing accruals are less discouraged when determining the compensation for retiring CEOs by compensation committees that are dominated by co-opted directors. The results suggest that compensation committees dominated by co-opted directors are less effective in adjusting CEO compensation to mitigate the CEO horizon problem. Originality/value The study reveals that co-opted directors are weak monitors. Moreover, the study adds empirical evidence to the debate of organizations’ CEO horizon problem. Finally, the study adds to the literature on corporate governance, revealing that compensation committees play an important role in mitigating an organization’s CEO horizon problem by adjusting CEO compensation.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Thao Phuong Tran ◽  
Anh-Tuan Le

PurposeThis paper examines how the degree of happiness affects corporate risk-taking and the moderating influence of family ownership of firms on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThe authors use an international sample of 17,654 firm-year observations from 24 countries around the world from 2008 to 2016.FindingsUsing the happiness index from the World Happiness Report developed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network, the authors show that a country's overall happiness is negatively correlated with risk-taking behavior by firms. The findings are robust to an alternative measure of risk-taking by firms. Further analyses document that the negative influence of happiness on firm risk-taking is more pronounced for family-owned firms.Practical implicationsThe paper is consistent with the notion that happier people are likely to be more risk-averse in making financial decisions, which, in turn, reduces corporate risk-taking.Originality/valueThis study contributes to the broad literature on the determinants of corporate risk-taking and the growing literature on the role of sentiment on investment decisions. The authors contribute to the current debate about family-owned firms by demonstrating that the presence of family trust strengthens the negative influence of happiness on corporate risk-taking, a topic that has been unexplored in previous studies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 105-122
Author(s):  
Juha Mäki

Purpose This paper aims to examine the connection between appraisals of investment properties and earnings properties in companies from two perspectives: what kinds of companies employ the most reputable appraisers and how appraisers produce estimations. Design/methodology/approach The research uses annual reports of European Union (EU) publicly traded real estate companies and examines the period 2007-2016. Findings The contribution of this study lies in establishing that some indicators and features of real estate companies affect the choice of appraiser and also in illustrating differences in the results of property valuations. In short, smaller companies with weaker performance are less willing to use external valuation, and external appraisers produce more conservative estimations for investment properties. Practical implications The research produces beneficial information for investors and other stakeholders interested in the real estate industry. Originality/value This is the first novel study to examine the link between appraisals of investment properties and earnings properties in companies in detail.


2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 561-581 ◽  
Author(s):  
Affaf Asghar ◽  
Seemab Sajjad ◽  
Aamer Shahzad ◽  
Bolaji Tunde Matemilola

Purpose Corporate governance (CG) is an ongoing interesting topic getting the attention of market participant, business regulators and researchers in today’s business environment. The purpose of this study is to analyze the moderating role of earnings management on CG-value and CG-risk relationship in the emerging economy of Pakistan. Design/methodology/approach A panel data analysis is used in this study. A panel data of 71 non-financial listed companies of Pakistan for the 2008-2017 period is considered for this study. Secondary data is collected from the annual reports of non-financial firms listed on PSX. Seven econometric equations are developed to test the research hypothesis. Findings The results reveal that CG significantly enhances the firm value and performance measures. Moreover, CG mitigates the practices of earning management and eliminates the risk that develops opportunistic behavior among managers to commit frauds. Practical implications The results of this study suggest that the board of directors (BODs) should intensify their governance role and ensure that the executives perform their duties to maximize the wealth of the shareholders and not engage in any misrepresentation of accounts that may lower the company position and decrease the firm value. Moreover, the managers should be informed about their accountability and acknowledged that at the end of the year, they would be audited by an expert’s auditors for their responsibilities. Concerning regulatory bodies, regulatory authorities should ensure that there must be at least one independent member on the board. The better-governed system reduces both agency conflicts and enhances firm value. Originality/value A number of studies have already been undertaken by multiple investigators to build connection among CG with firm performance, but there is not even a single study in the literature that considers CG, firm value, firm Risk and discretionary earning management as a whole in one model to generalize its results in the emerging economy of Pakistan. A fundamental element of current analyzation process addresses that this is the very first graft of study conducted in Pakistan having combination of four variables together in one revision. There is minimal work that focuses on moderating effects of earning management on the CG-value and CG-risk relationships. This study uses two standard measures of firm performance (i.e. ROA and Tobin’s Q), one proxy of earning management (DEM) and three attributes of CG (board size, audit quality and ownership structure). Previously, researchers have not investigated a model that combines variables (CG as independent and Firm performance and Firm Risk as dependent along with DEM as moderator) in a single study.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tho Anh To ◽  
Yoshihisa Suzuki ◽  
Hong Thu Thi Ho ◽  
Siem Thi Tran ◽  
Tuan Quoc Tran

PurposeThis study investigates the impact of board independence on firm risk of Vietnamese listed firms and the moderating effect of capital expenditure on this relationship.Design/methodology/approachThis paper applies fixed effects and dynamic generalized method of moments (GMM) models to examine hypothesized associations between the proportion of nonexecutive directors and stock return volatility, as well as the moderating effect of capital expenditure. The robustness tests are implemented by applying alternative measures of overinvestment and firm risk.FindingsThe results show that the presence of nonexecutive directors on board increases firm risk. However, the combination of nonexecutive ratio and capital expenditure ratio has a significant negative impact on firm risk. The result is also confirmed by the difference between the monitoring role of nonexecutive directors in overinvesting and underinvesting firms.Research limitations/implicationsThe results imply that Vietnamese listed firms take stock return volatility into consideration before nominating and appointing nonexecutive directors into their board, especially in overinvesting firms. From another perspective, the shift toward having a majority of nonexecutive directors on boards can play a significant role in pursuing a stable or risky business strategy.Originality/valueThis paper investigates the influences of nonexecutive directors on firm risk in the context of Vietnam.


2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (11) ◽  
pp. 1201-1215
Author(s):  
Mark A. Tribbitt ◽  
Yi Yang

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between board dependence, antitakeover provisions and their influence on corporate entrepreneurship (CE). Design/methodology/approach The study uses agency theory as a framework to expand on the board dependence–CE relationship by injecting the moderating role of antitakeover provisions to the model. Using data collected from 350 publicly traded firms, a panel regression analyses was conducted on both innovation and venturing components of CE. Findings The findings of this study show a negative relationship between board dependence and CE. Further this study shows that such a negative relationship becomes weaker when higher levels of antitakeover provisions are injected into the model. Research limitations/implications This study was conducted using a sample of large publicly traded firms within the information and manufacturing sectors, and so our findings may not be generalizable to firms in other contexts. Further, other variables representing CE (e.g. new product introductions) may add to this line of research in the future. Practical implications Understanding the role of board of directors within a firm may help foster CE throughout the organization. Originality/value This study expands on existing research by incorporating the influence of environmental factors (e.g. antitakeover provisions) and examining the relationship between corporate governance and CE using both measures of innovation and venturing.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khurram Iftikhar Bhatti ◽  
Muhammad Iftikhar Ul Husnain ◽  
Abubakr Saeed ◽  
Iram Naz ◽  
Syed Danial Hashmi

PurposeThis study examines the role of the observable and unobservable characteristics of top management on earning management and firm risk in China.Design/methodology/approachThe authors used manager-firm matched panel for 104 non-financial firms listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange between 2010 and 2018. The authors also trace the persistence of managerial financial styles and their active role across two different firms between which managers switched during the sample period.FindingsThe results show that managers' financial styles indeed influence earning management and firm risk and that this influence differs across different managers. These findings are robust when tested for the persistence and active role of managers. Furthermore, individual characteristics such as age, gender, qualification and experience influence managers' financial styles.Practical implicationsGiven their findings, the authors propose that financial analysts and potential investors should not only depend on quantitative data but also consider the individual characteristics of managers when evaluating firms.Social implicationsThe findings of this study carry serious implications for managers, policymakers and potential investors. The findings assist the external auditors in measuring the risk of material misstatement, the various regulatory bodies to assess the quality of financial reporting and the users of financial statements to evaluate the earnings and make further investment decisions considering not only the quantitative data but also the individual characteristics of top managers.Originality/valueThe current study examines the observable and unobservable characteristics of top management on firm risk and earnings management in Chinese context.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julija Winschel

Purpose In view of the current climate change emergency and the growing importance of the climate-related accountability of companies, this paper aims to advance a comprehensive understanding of the determinants of carbon-related chief executive officer (CEO) compensation. Design/methodology/approach Building on the agency-theoretical perspective on executive compensation and existing work in the fields of management, corporate governance, cultural studies, and behavioral science, this paper derives a multilevel framework of the determinants of carbon-related CEO compensation. Findings This paper maps the determinants of carbon-related CEO compensation at the societal, organizational, group, and individual levels of analysis. It also provides research propositions on the determinants that can support and challenge the implementation of this instrument of environmental corporate governance. Originality/value In the past literature, the determinants of carbon-related CEO compensation have remained largely unexplored. This paper contributes to the academic discussion on environmental corporate governance by showcasing the role of interlinkages among the determinants of carbon-related CEO compensation and the possible countervailing impacts. In view of the complex interdisciplinary nature of climate change impact, this paper encourages businesses practitioners and regulators to intensify their climate change mitigation efforts and delineates the levers at their disposal.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 692-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Junaid Haider ◽  
Hong-Xing Fang

Purpose The purpose of this paper was first to find out whether the negative relationship between board size and future firm risk persists in China while contemplating all sorts of endogeneity. Second, the authors have investigated the role of large shareholders in influencing the managerial decisions concerning future firm risk via board size. Finally, the authors examined whether the moderating role of large shareholders is any different in state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and non-state-owned enterprises (NSOEs) in China. Design/methodology/approach The sample included all the A-listed firms listed on the Shanghai and the Shenzhen stock exchanges over a sample period from 2008 to 2013. The authors used fixed effects regression and the generalized method of moments (GMM) to test the three hypotheses. Findings The authors found that board size is negatively associated with future firm risk when measured as volatility in future stock prices and future cash flows. Second, large shareholders directly influence managerial decisions about future firm risk, irrespective of board size. Third, the moderating role of ownership concentration is insignificant in both SOEs and NSOEs. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study which has analyzed the role of large shareholders in the relationship between board size and future firm risk. This study provides valuable insights, particularly in the context of a developing country, into the role played by large shareholders in influencing managerial decisions concerning future firm risk.


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