Journal of Accounting and Economics Vol. 80 No. 1 2025

Equity-based compensation and the timing of share repurchases: the role of the corporate calendar

Ingolf Dittmann¹; Amy Yazhu Li²; Stefan Obernberger¹; Jiaqi Zheng³

¹ Erasmus University Rotterdam · ² Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen · ³ Peking University

Abstract

We examine whether CEOs use share repurchases to sell their equity at inflated prices. We document that share repurchases, like equity-based compensation, are affected by the corporate calendar—the firm's schedule of earnings announcements and insider trading restrictions. The corporate calendar can fully explain why share repurchases and equity-based compensation coincide. The alignment with the corporate calendar is stricter in firms with strong internal governance or high external monitoring. When CEOs sell equity, firms are actually less likely to repurchase. Our findings reconcile earlier studies and highlight the importance of the corporate calendar for the timing of share repurchases.

DOI

10.1016/j.jacceco.2025.101798

Volume

80

Issue

1

Pages

101798

Language

en

Sources

bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

Cite

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