会计变更、股权激励与上市公司绩效

2007年1月1日起,根据《企业会计准则第11号——股份支付》,我国上市公司实施股票期权计划被要求按照公允价值进行费用化处理,并在财务报表中披露。本文采用因子分析法研究此次会计变更对我国实施股权激励计划的上市公司2007年度绩效的影响,发现股权激励措施并未促进公司绩效的增长,其代理成本也没有显著降低,说明我国现行股权激励制度尚未很好解决上市公司的代理问题,股权激励制度的设计目标也未能有效实现。     

私募股权投资与公司价值相关性的实证研究——来自中小板上市公司的经验证据

私募股权投资不仅是企业筹集股权资金的一种融资方式,还能优化企业法人治理结构,对经理人实施激励约束作用,进而增加企业价值,改善企业经营绩效.本文选取深交所中小企业板块的233户上市公司为研究样本,实证研究发现:在控制了公司规模和财务杠杆度后,私募股权投资与公司价值和公司经营绩效呈显著的正相关关系.     

管理层股权激励:利益趋同还是利益壕沟——来自股权分置改革后中国上市公司的经验证据

本文从股权分置改革的制度背景来考察国内上市公司管理层股权激励效应及其内在机理。研究结果表明,股权分置改革后,管理层股权激励显著提高了公司绩效,但在不同产权性质公司中激励效果不同:非国有控股公司表现为利益趋同效应,股权激励降低了代理成本,改善了公司绩效;而国有控股公司表现为利益壕沟效应,股权激励对代理成本和公司绩效没有显著影响。进一步研究发现,国有控股公司内部人控制、管理层权力过大是股权激励效应弱化的主要原因。     

股权激励对企业非效率投资行为的影响研究——基于高管过度自信中介效应的视角

基于高管过度自信的视角考量我国上市公司股权激励实施对企业非效率投资行为的影响,结果表明,我国上市公司普遍存在过度投资和投资不足的现象,股权激励能有效抑制过度投资行为,但对企业投资不足现象具有显著的促进作用,同时,高管过度自信会导致企业过度投资行为的发生,相应地会降低投资不足行为的产生;高管过度自信是导致股权激励效果弱化的重要原因,股权激励的实施会在高管过度自信的作用下加剧企业过度投资行为,而对投资不足表现出不显著的抑制效果;良好的公司治理环境能有效抑制高管过度自信概率,也是激励效果得以发挥的重要前提。     

股权激励、管理者过度自信与权益资本成本

基于行为金融的视角,从管理者过度自信角度解释了我国股权激励计划实施效果不佳的困惑。实证结果表明,我国实施股权激励计划会在高管过度自信的条件下对上市公司权益资本成本产生影响：股权激励计划的实施提高了上市公司高管过度自信水平;股权激励与高管过度自信的相互作用使得上市公司权益资本成本显著升高。这意味着从管理者过度自信的角度考察股权激励对企业权益资本成本造成的影响,可能会更好地解释股权激励的价值效应。     

我国上市公司管理层薪酬结构对公司绩效的影响研究

我国上市公司高级管理人员的激励问题一直是各方关注的焦点。本文运用我国上市公司的经验证据来考察公司经营绩效与高级管理人员激励的关系。研究结果表明,上市公司高级管理人员年度货币收入偏低,报酬结构不合理。高级管理人员的年度报酬与上市公司的经营业绩并不存在显著的正相关关系。上市公司对于高级管理人员的股权激励计划也没有达到预期的激励效果,它仅仅是一种福利制度安排。     

不确定性、股权激励与非效率投资

文章在考察环境不确定性对上市公司投资行为影响的基础上,分析了股权激励计划对这一相关关系的影响机制和作用效果,结果发现:企业所面临的环境不确定性会降低企业投资效率,导致过度投资或投资不足。而股权激励措施对不确定环境引起的管理者非效率投资行为有抑制作用。本文研究结果表明,股权激励制度有助于减少环境不确定性导致的代理矛盾,抑制过度投资,也有助于降低企业管理者风险的厌恶程度,缓解投资不足。     

股权激励对上市公司投资效率的影响

本文以2006-2014年沪深两市上市公司的数据为样本,考察了股权激励对上市公司投资效率的影响。进一步分析了在不同货币政策背景下股权激励对投资效率的影响效果是否相同。结果发现,上市公司实施股权激励计划没有提高反而降低了上市公司的投资效率;股权激励在货币政策宽松期对投资效率有消极影响。研究结论提出了关于股权激励如何影响投资效率的新认识,对上市公司制定科学合理的股权激励计划也有一定的借鉴意义。     

关于上市公司股权激励与公司绩效的研究

本文在前人理论研究的基础上,分析我国股权激励建设的进程,选取2006年实施股权激励的上市公司作为研究对象,研究股权激励与公司绩效的关系。结果证明：股权激励对公司绩效有正面作用,但并不明显;股权激励的效果存在行业差距;我国上市公司多数采用股票期权股权激励模式,但就效果来说,虚拟股票和复合模式的股权激励效果较好。     

影响高管自利行为的因素

2006年1月1日证监会公布了《上市公司股权激励管理办法》,我国真正意义上的股权激励才开始。然而发展中的股权激励是否能够解决委托代理论文与信息不对称理论,国内外学者对这一问题持有不同的观点。本文对影响高管自利行为的影响因素做了研究,发现公司治理中经理人是否持股、经理人在职年限、两职合一与高管自利行为显著负相关,而股权集中度、独立董事比例与高管自利行为并无显著关系,至于公司规模、公司成长性、公司所属行业、公司财务杠杆同吴育辉、吴世农(2010)研究的结果一致,与高管自利行为并无显著关系。     

Stock‐Based Compensation in a Concentrated Ownership Setting: An Empirical Investigation

Stock‐based compensation has been viewed as an important mechanism for tying managers’ wealth to firm performance, and thus alleviating the agency conflict between the shareholders and the managers when ownership is diffused. However, in a concentrated ownership structure, controlling owners are usually the management of the firm; they can engage in self‐dealing activities to the detriment of minority shareholders’ interests. Yet, outside investors may anticipate the problem and discount the share price for the entrenchment behaviors they observe. In this study, we investigate how controlling owners trade off the benefits and the costs of using stock‐based compensation. Based on a sample of Taiwanese firms, our evidence shows that stock‐based compensation is negatively related to the agency problem embedded in a concentrated ownership structure. This relationship is evident among firms with more frequent equity offerings. Overall, our empirical evidence suggests that controlling owners consider the negative price effects of stock‐based compensation and trade off these costs with the benefits of expropriating minority shareholders’ interests, particularly when firms seek more external equity capital. Our results hold after controlling for selection bias and share collateral by controlling owners.     

期权激励与企业并购行为

本文以2006年至2015年我国上市公司为研究对象,考察了期权激励对企业并购行为的影响。研究发现:授予高管的期权激励显著提升了企业发起并购的可能性和并购规模。缓解代理问题和提升风险承担是潜在的作用渠道。进一步研究表明,激励对象异质性会影响期权激励的效果,期权激励对企业并购倾向和并购规模的提升作用在管理者年龄较高、管理者任期较长以及管理者相对薪酬水平较低的企业中更加明显。此外,期权激励对企业并购行为的影响在非国有企业中更加突出。最后,本文还发现期权激励提升了企业并购的财务业绩。本文的研究不仅丰富了有关期权激励效果方面的文献,而且对于理解企业并购行为具有一定的参考意义。     

Dividend taxes and stock volatility

How do dividend taxes affect stock volatility? If a risk-averse executive faces price risk through his incentive contract, changes in stock volatility due to dividend taxes may increase agency costs and therefore decrease overall welfare. In this paper, I use a decrease in dividend taxes as a natural experiment to identify their effect on the firm’s idiosyncratic stock return volatility. Stock volatility decreased after the tax cut for firms at which executives have larger sensitivity to stock price in their incentive compensation package relative to firms at which executives have a smaller sensitivity. Therefore, with risk-averse executives and risk-neutral shareholders, dividend taxes may exacerbate agency costs. The increase in agency costs will decrease shareholder welfare, which can be partially offset by the use of options in the employment contract.     

Stock options and managerial incentives for risk taking: Evidence from FAS 123R

We provide new evidence on the relation between option-based compensation and risk-taking behavior by exploiting the change in the accounting treatment of stock options following the adoption of FAS 123R in 2005. The implementation of FAS 123R represents an exogenous change in the accounting benefits of stock options that has no effect on the economic costs and benefits of options for providing managerial incentives. Our results do not support the view that the convexity inherent in option-based compensation is used to reduce risk-related agency problems between managers and shareholders. We show that all firms dramatically reduce their usage of stock options (convexity) after the adoption of FAS 123R and that the decline in option use is strongly associated with a proxy for accounting costs. Little evidence exists that the decline in option usage following the accounting change results in less risky investment and financial policies.     

股票期权行权价格的局限与修订研究

股票期权计划在国内外受到广泛关注,并日益成为公司经理人激励的主要手段。但由于我国股票市场的弱式性,以股价为基础的股票期权并不能真正反映经理人的业绩表现。为此,本文引入超额EVA增长率和行业股票价格参数对现行以股票价格为基础的股票期权行权价格进行修订,以使经理人的激励报酬和业绩贡献变动相结合。与此同时,本文还引入行业分类指数变动率以消除股市波动对行权日行权价格的影响。调整后的行权价格更加真实的反映了经理人的业绩。论文最后指出该方案所具有的优势,认为经过修订的股票期权行权价格在我国更具有现实意义。     

Liquidity and the Future Stock Returns of the REIT Industry

This paper examines how deviations from expected optimal cash holdings affect future stock returns in the real estate investment trust (REIT) industry. Our findings indicate that REIT managers elect to hold less cash to reduce the agency problems of cash flow, supporting the pecking order theory that growth opportunities lead managers to retain more cash on hand. The results show that any deviation from the estimated optimal cash holdings is significantly detrimental to future market performance, suggesting that excess or insufficient cash is harmful to stock returns. The adverse influence of deviations above the optimal value is insignificantly stronger than that of deviations below the optimal value. We also find that the return performances of deviations that do not differ from the expected optimal value surpass those of deviations that differ significantly from the expected level. This implies that REIT managers determine their cash policies based on future growth opportunities and the external costs of capital. Finally, for REIT firms, holding excess or insufficient cash increases the possibility of agency conflict or underinvestment, which will consequently worsen the firm??s future performance.     

Do executive stock option grants have value implications for firm performance?

Consistent with predictions of agency theory, we find direct evidence that executive stock option grants have value implications for firm performance. This inference is drawn from evaluation of various motivations for the use of such grants in executive compensation: value enhancement, risk taking, tax benefit, signaling and cash conservation. We find consistent evidence for the value enhancement motivation to reduce agency costs. As well, they signal for positive price sensitive information. Our results reject the tax benefit and cash conservation motivations. This finding is robust after controlling for the endogenous character of executive stock option grants and other equity-based grants. JEL Classification G32 • J33 • M52     

Reducing managers’ incentives to cannibalize: Managerial stock options when shareholders are diversified

We analyze the relative advantage of option grants compared to stock compensation when shareholders are diversified. Our analysis recognizes a conflict that is largely neglected in the corporate finance literature. Shareholders want to maximize their portfolio value while capital budgeting rules direct managers to choose projects that maximize firm (equity) value. Options can reduce this conflict by motivating managers to avoid projects that enhance the value of one firm at the expense of another firm. Also, in our framework, relative performance evaluation destroys value for shareholders as it encourages firms to engage in cannibalistic activity. Consistent with the predictions of our model we find that firms with lower insider ownership, higher institutional ownership, and lower leverage tend to provide more option grants as compensation to their executives.     

Abnormal investment and firm performance

We find a negative relation between abnormal investment and future stock performance. Such a negative relation is mainly driven by under-investment, not over-investment. Our results are robust to various estimation methods and investment models. Both delayed market reaction and agency issues may lead to the apparently anomalous return predictability of under-investment. First, market investors may not react promptly to the fundamental information contained in under-investment about a firm’s future profitability, asset growth, and financial distress probability. Second, the negative relation between under-investment and future stock returns is more pronounced for firms with lower investor monitoring and higher agency costs.     

Are Debt and Incentive Compensation Substitutes in Controlling the Free Cash Flow Agency Problem?

This paper investigates the governance implications of a firm's capital structure and managerial incentive compensation in controlling the free cash flow agency problem. The results suggest: debt and executive stock options act as substitutes in attenuating a firm's free cash flow problem; failure to incorporate the substitutability and endogeneity leads to underestimates of the magnitude and economic implication of the disciplinary role of both mechanisms; firm characteristics differ across the prevalence of debt usage versus option usage, suggesting the heterogeneity in the costs and benefits of the monitoring devices; and all the above effects are more pronounced in firms that tend to have more severe agency problem.