Home About us Contact | |||
Option Grants (option + grant)
Kinds of Option Grants Selected AbstractsIncentives and Opportunities to Manage Earnings around Option Grants,CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009Terry A. Baker First page of article [source] The Impact of Financial and Tax Reporting Incentives on Option Grants to Canadian CEOs,CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, Issue 2 2000KENNETH J. KLASSEN Abstract This study explores the effects of financial and tax reporting incentives on options granted to chief executive officers in Canada. Extant studies with a similar objective (Yermack 1995; Matsunaga 1995) explore predominantly nonqualified U.S. option grants that are deductible to the extent that the options are in the money at the time of exercise. In contrast, Canadian firms do not get a tax deduction for their stock option grants at any time. In both countries, no expense is recorded for financial reporting purposes. As a result, the financial reporting and tax reporting trade-off is more pronounced in the Canadian setting of this study compared with the U.S. setting. We measure option granting behavior as the ratio of the Black-Scholes value of stock option grants to the sum of cash compensation and the value of stock option grants. Using a sample of 806 firm-year observations during the period 1993-95, we find that observed option grants are significantly correlated with proxies for short-run financial reporting incentives. We also find evidence that option granting behavior is correlated with proxies for tax incentives. [source] Accounting Choices and Director Interlocks: A Social Network Approach to the Voluntary Expensing of Stock Option GrantsJOURNAL OF BUSINESS FINANCE & ACCOUNTING, Issue 9-10 2008Eugene Kang Abstract:, We adopt a social network perspective of accounting choices and argue that voluntary expensing of stock option grants by firms may be driven by social influence and learning within a network of director interlocks. We find that firms are more likely to expense stock option grants voluntarily when they have inside director interlocks with (1) other firms that do likewise, and (2) institutional investors of firms accused of financial reporting fraud. This study contributes to extant research by highlighting that a social network approach complements a cost-and-benefit approach (or an economic perspective) when examining the accounting practices of firms. [source] The Impact of Financial and Tax Reporting Incentives on Option Grants to Canadian CEOs,CONTEMPORARY ACCOUNTING RESEARCH, Issue 2 2000KENNETH J. KLASSEN Abstract This study explores the effects of financial and tax reporting incentives on options granted to chief executive officers in Canada. Extant studies with a similar objective (Yermack 1995; Matsunaga 1995) explore predominantly nonqualified U.S. option grants that are deductible to the extent that the options are in the money at the time of exercise. In contrast, Canadian firms do not get a tax deduction for their stock option grants at any time. In both countries, no expense is recorded for financial reporting purposes. As a result, the financial reporting and tax reporting trade-off is more pronounced in the Canadian setting of this study compared with the U.S. setting. We measure option granting behavior as the ratio of the Black-Scholes value of stock option grants to the sum of cash compensation and the value of stock option grants. Using a sample of 806 firm-year observations during the period 1993-95, we find that observed option grants are significantly correlated with proxies for short-run financial reporting incentives. We also find evidence that option granting behavior is correlated with proxies for tax incentives. [source] Optimal Incentive Contracts for Loss-Averse Managers: Stock Options versus Restricted Stock GrantsFINANCIAL REVIEW, Issue 4 2006Anna Dodonova G39; M52 Abstract This paper provides an explanation for the widespread use of stock option grants in executive compensation. It shows that the optimal incentive contract for loss-averse managers must contain a substantial portion of stock options even when it should consist exclusively of stock grants for "classical" risk-averse managers. The paper also provides an explanation for the drastic increase in the risk-adjusted level of CEO compensations over the past two decades and argues that more option-based compensation should be used in firms with higher cash flow volatility and in industries with a higher degree of heterogeneity among firms. [source] SIX CHALLENGES IN DESIGNING EQUITY-BASED PAYJOURNAL OF APPLIED CORPORATE FINANCE, Issue 3 2003Brian J. Hall The past two decades have seen a dramatic increase in the equitybased pay of U.S. corporate executives, an increase that has been driven almost entirely by the explosion of stock option grants. When properly designed, equity-based pay can raise corporate productivity and shareholder value by helping companies attract, motivate, and retain talented managers. But there are good reasons to question whether the current forms of U.S. equity pay are optimal. In many cases, substantial stock and option payoffs to top executives,particularly those who cashed out much of their holdings near the top of the market,appear to have come at the expense of their shareholders, generating considerable skepticism about not just executive pay practices, but the overall quality of U.S. corporate governance. At the same time, many companies that have experienced sharp stock price declines are now struggling with the problem of retaining employees holding lots of deep-underwater options. This article discusses the design of equity-based pay plans that aim to motivate sustainable, or long-run, value creation. As a first step, the author recommends the use of longer vesting periods and other requirements on executive stock and option holdings, both to limit managers' ability to "time" the market and to reduce their incentives to take shortsighted actions that increase near-term earnings at the expense of longer-term cash flow. Besides requiring "more permanent" holdings, the author also proposes a change in how stock options are issued. In place of popular "fixed value" plans that adjust the number of options awarded each year to reflect changes in the share price (and that effectively reward management for poor performance by granting more options when the price falls, and fewer when it rises), the author recommends the use of "fixed number" plans that avoid this unintended distortion of incentives. As the author also notes, there is considerable confusion about the real economic cost of options relative to stock. Part of the confusion stems, of course, from current GAAP accounting, which allows companies to report the issuance of at-the-money options as costless and so creates a bias against stock and other forms of compensation. But, coming on top of the "opportunity cost" of executive stock options to the company's shareholders, there is another, potentially significant cost of options (and, to a lesser extent, stock) that arises from the propensity of executives and employees to place a lower value on company stock and options than well-diversified outside investors. The author's conclusion is that grants of (slow-vesting) stock are likely to have at least three significant advantages over employee stock options: ,they are more highly valued by executives and employees (per dollar of cost to shareholders); ,they continue to provide reasonably strong ownership incentives and retention power, regardless of whether the stock price rises or falls, because they don't go underwater; and ,the value of such grants is much more transparent to stockholders, employees, and the press. [source] Accounting Choices and Director Interlocks: A Social Network Approach to the Voluntary Expensing of Stock Option GrantsJOURNAL OF BUSINESS FINANCE & ACCOUNTING, Issue 9-10 2008Eugene Kang Abstract:, We adopt a social network perspective of accounting choices and argue that voluntary expensing of stock option grants by firms may be driven by social influence and learning within a network of director interlocks. We find that firms are more likely to expense stock option grants voluntarily when they have inside director interlocks with (1) other firms that do likewise, and (2) institutional investors of firms accused of financial reporting fraud. This study contributes to extant research by highlighting that a social network approach complements a cost-and-benefit approach (or an economic perspective) when examining the accounting practices of firms. [source] |