Using transactions generally overlooked in the compensation literature—joint ventures, strategic alliances, seasoned equity offerings (SEOs), and spin-offs—we find that, beyond compensation for increases in firm size or complexity, chief executive officers (CEOs) are rewarded for their...

I analyze 1,493 first-time director appointments to Fortune 1000 boards, during 1997-99, to investigate whether certain outside directors are better than others. Reactions to director appointments are higher when appointees are CEOs of other companies than when they are not. CEOs are more likely...

We study firms adopting stock-option plans for outside directors in a sample of Fortune 1000 firms from 1997 to 1999. Fixed-effects models accounting for self-selectivity bias indicate that companies with such plans have higher market-to-book ratios and profitability metrics. Option plan...

The redesign of a Web presence can be classified as both an IT investment and an e-commerce initiative. Although the empirical literature provides evidence that financial markets are sensitive to e-commerce announcements, it is still unknown what types of announcements affect the value of firms....

Unscheduled stock options to target chief executive officers (CEOs) are a nontrivial phenomenon during private merger negotiations. In 920 acquisition bids during 1999-2007, over 13% of targets grant them. These options substitute for golden parachutes and compensate target CEOs for the benefits...