We document that backfilling in the ExecuComp database introduces a data-conditioning bias that can affect inferences and make replication of previous work difficult. Although backfilling can be advantageous due to greater data coverage, if not addressed the over-sampling of firms with strong...

Many executives have compensation that is potentially forfeit conditioned on the circumstances surrounding their departure from the firm. We study firms' endogenous decisions to use such compensation "holdbacks" as a bonding device and find that firms with higher executive replacement costs,...