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Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 120 No. 3 2016

The causal effect of option pay on corporate risk management

Tor-Erik Bakke1; Hamed Mahmudi1; Chitru S. Fernando1; Jesus M. Salas2

1 University of Oklahoma · 2 Lehigh University

open access

Abstract

This study provides strong evidence of a causal effect of risk-taking incentives provided by option compensation on corporate risk management. We utilize the passage of Financial Accounting Standard (FAS) 123R, which required firms to expense options, to investigate how chief executive officer option compensation affects the hedging behavior of oil and gas firms. Firms that did not expense options before FAS 123R significantly reduced option pay, which resulted in a large increase in their hedging intensity compared with firms that did not use options or expensed their options voluntarily prior to FAS 123R.

DOI
10.1016/j.jfineco.2016.02.007
Volume
120
Issue
3
Pages
623-643
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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