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The Review of Corporate Finance Studies Vol. 9 No. 2 2020

Managerial Attributes, Incentives, and Performance

Jeffrey L. Coles1; Zhichuan Li2

1 David Eccles School of Business, University of Utah · 2 Richard Ivey School of Business, University of Western Ontario

Abstract

We examine the relative importance of observed and unobserved firm- and manager-specific heterogeneities in determining executive compensation incentives and firm policy, risk, and performance. First, we decompose executive incentives into time-variant and time-invariant firm and manager components. Manager fixed effects supply 73% (60%) of explained variation in delta (vega). Second, controlling for manager fixed effects alters parameter estimates and corresponding inference on observed firm and manager characteristics. Third, larger CEO delta (vega) fixed effects predict better firm performance (riskier corporate policies and higher firm risk). These results suggest that the delta (vega) fixed effect captures managerial ability (risk aversion). (JEL G3, G32, G34, J24, J31, J33) Received September 7, 2018; editorial decision February 21, 2020 by Editor Andrew Ellul.

DOI
10.1093/rcfs/cfaa004
Volume
9
Issue
2
Pages
256-301
Language
en
Sources
bibtex:phds-export.bib openalex crossref

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