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Journal of Financial Economics Vol. 14 No. 2 1985

Incentive effects of stock purchase plans

Sanjai Bhagat; James A. Brickley; Ronald C. Lease

University of Utah

Abstract

Financial economists are interested in whether alternative compensation plans are adopted primarily for tax, incentive or signaling reasons. As most compensation plans have tax implications, examining for other effects is difficult. In this paper we examine the stock market reaction to employee stock purchase plans which are ‘non-tax advantageous’ and adopted for incentive/signaling reasons. The results suggest that (1) equity-based compensation schemes have a positive effect on shareholder wealth for reasons other than tax reduction, (2) a motive for adopting these plans is to align managerial and shareholder interests, and (3) equity ownership motivates key executives more than subordinate employees.

DOI
10.1016/0304-405x(85)90014-5
Volume
14
Issue
2
Pages
195-215
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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