This paper analyzes how earnings and price are used in executive compensation contracts. Risk-averse shareholders collectively design a contract and individually trade in the stock market. In the optimal linear contract the use of earnings and price depends critically on incentive efficiency, i.e., how precisely the measures convey the true outcome. The relative weight of price to earnings exaggerates the true relative importance of price because price impounds traders' overall information while its informational value lies in the incremental information it provides. The use of price allows shareholders to share trading risks with managers.

This paper examines the issue of voluntary disclosure of information by firms with heterogeneous shareholders. It shows that in a rational expectations setting, better informed shareholders prefer less disclosure than less well‐informed shareholders. This is due to differences in the adverse risk‐sharing effect and the beneficial cost‐saving effect of disclosure among shareholders with different risk tolerances and information acquisition cost functions. The presence of individual liquidity shocks is shown to reduce shareholder disagreements regarding a firm's disclosure policy.

This paper examines the issue of voluntary disclosure of information by firms with heterogeneous shareholders. It shows that, in a rational expectations setting, better-informed shareholders prefer less disclosure than less well-informed shareholders. This is due to differences in the adverse risk-sharing effect and the beneficial cost-saving effect of disclosure among shareholders with different risk tolerances and information acquisition cost functions. The presence of individual liquidity shocks is shown to reduce shareholder disagreements regarding a firm's disclosure policy.