MANAGERS’ ADVERSE SELECTION IN RESOURCE ALLOCATION: A LABORATORY EXPERIMENT

Using a laboratory experiment, this study investigates agency theory determinants of managers’ adverse selection in resource allocation and an approach to solve agency problems. The results suggest that agents who experience an incentive to shirk, have private information, and/or face less risky sunk costs exhibit a greater tendency to either choose less profitable projects or continue losing projects. Consistent with agency theory predictions, we also found that the tendency to choose less profitable projects and continue losing projects declined when agents were compensated based on a variable (outcome-based) compensation scheme.