ABSTRACT In this paper, we develop novel measures of managerial labor market classification and competition by constructing networks of compensation benchmarking peers disclosed in proxy statements. These networks represent firms’ relative positions within the managerial labor market. Our classifications strongly predict executive moves across firms, outperforming a comprehensive set of predictors in the literature. Subsequent tests further demonstrate the strength of our methodology in capturing the multidimensional and dynamic features of the managerial labor market. We also validate our competition measures by showing that they are associated with retention tools, such as higher equity pay and longer pay duration. Finally, we apply our measures to test two theoretical predictions. First, we find that labor market competition could explain controversial pay practices. Second, we demonstrate that the labor market provides managers with tournament incentives to deliver superior future performance.

ABSTRACT We study how foreign investors’ access to corporate information varies with pairwise geopolitical tensions between the investor's and investee's countries. Using a sample of 1,760 country‐pairs, we find that geopolitical tensions between a conference call host firm's country and a foreign country relate negatively with investor participation from that foreign country as well as the quality and tone of management responses in the call, suggesting reduced foreign investor information access with rising tensions. A single‐country analysis of Chinese AB‐share firms produces similar inferences. With higher China–foreign tensions, foreign attendance at private meetings with management declines, and English translations of local language disclosures become less frequent and shorter in length. Curtailment in English translations is more pronounced when local language disclosures contain politically sensitive words, suggesting lower information supply by firm choice. Reduced disclosures from geopolitical tensions are impounded in foreign investors’ asset pricing decisions, resulting in steeper foreign‐share price discounts.