I examine how negative ESG news distorts shareholder outcomes. In 2015 As You Sow began the yearly release of "The 100 Most Overpaid CEOs" list, leading to negative ESG news for firms that make the list. Overpaying CEOs is a governance concern as it signals a failure in proper controls and a...

We study the effect of board gender diversity on executive and director equity-linked incentives. The provision of equity incentives to executives is costly for shareholders. We argue theoretically that the optimal compensation given to executives by a board with superior monitoring ability will...

This paper investigates the impact of firms’ executive pay disparity on insider trading returns prior corporate earnings disclosures. We find evidence that executive pay disparity has a significant positive relationship with abnormal returns from insider purchases preceding the good earnings...

This paper examines the relationship between insider abnormal trading returns, executive pay disparity, and CEO turnover. Our study finds both independent and interaction effects of insider abnormal returns and CEO pay gap on the probability of CEO turnovers. First, an increase in insider...

We examine the sensitivity of CEO compensation to pretax domestic and foreign incomes both before and after the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA). Our results show firms reward foreign over domestic earnings prior to the TCJA, when foreign income was tax advantaged relative to domestic...

This study contributes to the emerging literature on the determinants and the consequences of cyberattacks by examining the impact of inside debt compensation on a firm’s likelihood of experiencing a cyberattack and on attacked firms’ cash holdings, R&D investments, and asset tangibility. We...

In Closer Look, we highlight significant “holes” in our knowledge of corporate governance. These are central issues where insufficient or inadequate study has left us unable to answer basic questions, and where key assumptions relied upon by experts have not been verified or validated. While...

Exploring the relationship between institutional investors and corporate social responsibility (CSR) policy, we show evidence that the sustainable governance approach promoted in place of the shareholder value perspective can have different outcomes from those originally intended, as some...