Conforming behaviors due to conformity pressure have been widely observed in economic and psychological experiments. This study examines how conformity pressure affects an agent's incentives and the principal's net payoff using behavioral contract theory. Specifically, we identify the conditions...

I examine optimal managerial compensation and turnover policy in a principal-agent model in which the firm output is serially correlated over time. The model captures a learning-by-doing feature: higher effort by the manager increases the quality of the match between the firm and the manager in...

I study the role the agent's wealth plays in the principal-agent matching with moral hazard and limited liability. I consider wealth and talent as the agent's type, and size as the firm's (principal's) type. Because utility is not perfectly transferable in this setup, I use generalized...

This paper proposes an indirect tax approach to derive positive and normative implications of regulatory interference in compensation contracts, focusing on recent mandatory deferral and clawback requirements in the financial sector. Moderate deferral requirements for bonus-pay typically lead to...

We examine a general equilibrium dynamic economy in which each firm i) hires a manager who can divert cash flows and ii) can fire him after poor performance, generating costs to both parties.The contract is terminated when the manager's continuation value reaches his compensation at another firm...

This paper analyzes executive compensation in a setting where managers may take a costly action to manipulate corporate performance, and whether managers do so is stochastic. We examine how the opportunity to manipulate affects the optimal pay contract, and establish necessary and sufficient...

The paper investigates the optimal structure of executive compensation with the possibility of financial data manipulation. We characterize the optimal compensation contract analytically, and establish necessary and sufficient conditions for earnings management to occur. The model shows that the...

This paper analyzes executive compensation in a setting where managers may take a costly action to manipulate corporate performance, and whether managers do so is stochastic. We show that an increase in the possibility of manipulation actually calls for executive pay to be more responsive to...

We derive conditions under which state-imposed limits on executive compensation can enhance efficiency and benefit shareholders (but not executives). Having their hands tied in the future allows a board of directors to credibly enter into relational contracts with executives that are more...

I study firm characteristics that justify the use of options or refresher grants in the optimal compensation packages for CEOs in the presence of moral hazard. I model explicitly the determination of stock prices as a function of the output realizations of the firm: Symmetric learning by all...