PhD in Finance - Shareholder Horizon, Implicit Incentives, and Executive Compensation Design
2:30pm - 4:00pm
Room 5047, 5/F, Lee Shau Kee Business Building, HKUST
I study the increasing focus of CEO compensation on subjective performance measures during the recent decade. I document that 63% of large US public firms use subjective measures to evaluate CEO performance, and the reliance on subjective measures is positively correlated with long-term institutional ownership. Using a recent law change in corporate governance, I identify that longer institutional investor horizon induces a higher weight on subjective measures in compensation design. I also find that the more complex business structure a firm has, the more (less)reliant is CEO compensation on subjective (objective) performance measures. Overall, my findings are consistent with a large strand of incomplete contract theory suggesting soft performance information can provide effective incentives if the contract is provided by long-term oriented principal.
Event Format
Thesis Defense
Candidate
Ms. MA, Fangyuan
Language
English
English