Managerial compensation incentives and merger waves

This paper examines the relation between executive compensation incentives and the nature of merger transactions inside and outside of merger waves. We find that the sensitivity of CEO wealth to firm risk, vega, increases the likelihood of merger transactions outside of waves, but is unrelated to merger frequency inside wave periods. CEOs whose compensation is more closely tied to firm risk make better performing acquisitions when they acquire outside of merger waves, but this is not the case for in-wave deals, suggesting that underperformance of acquiring firms during waves can be attributed in part to ineffective compensation incentives. We also find that the cross-sectional dispersion of acquirers’ returns is higher for in-wave acquisitions relative to acquisitions made outside a wave, suggesting that out-wave acquisitions are characterized by lower uncertainty of future stock price returns. This is again restricted to high vega CEOs during out-wave periods

Incentive compensation vs. SOX: evidence from corporate acquisition decisions

We empirically examine the impact of incentive compensation on the riskiness of acquisition decisions before and after the passage of Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX). Controlling for confounding events, firm characteristics and industry fixed effects, we find a substantial change in the relation between equity-related compensation and acquisition risk post-SOX stemming from a previously unidentified shift in the effectiveness of executive stock options to control managerial risk aversion. Not only has incentive compensation failed to offset the adverse impact of SOX on risk-taking activity but it has also significantly altered managerial incentives. The decrease in acquisition risk post-SOX cannot be solely attributed to changes in the structure of executive compensation but it additionally stems from the way managers perceive compensation-based incentives in the new regulatory environment. The results are robust to different measures of acquisition risk and alternative definitions of incentive compensation

Incentive compensation vs SOX: evidence from corporate acquisition decisions

In this paper, we use the introduction of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act in 2002 to assess the impact of executive option and stock grants on corporate acquisition decisions. Amongst its many innovations, the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (SOX) has limited the value and effect of equity-related compensation. We find strong evidence of a shift in the factors driving acquisitions post-SOX. Specifically, while bid premiums have fell irrespectively of the type of acquirer, highly incentivised managers have become more risk-averse after the passage of the Act. Investors also appear to have recognised the effect of a change in equity-related pay. Both market response to acquisition announcements and post-acquisition performance have been improved after the introduction of SOX but these cannot be attributed to firms that grant high levels of incentive compensation to their managers. Our results are robust to a number of explanatory factors and confounding events in the post-SOX period

One size fits all? The effectiveness of incentive compensation in public acquisitions

This paper provides new evidence on the relation between incentive compensation and acquisition performance. We find that higher sensitivity of executives’ wealth to stock-price changes, Delta, is positively associated with post-acquisition stock-price performance and that higher sensitivity of executives’ wealth to stock-return volatility, Vega, leads to risk-increasing acquisitions only when the target is a non-publicly listed firm. In public deals, we find no difference in the deal synergies available to acquiring firm’s shareholders between high and low incentivised managers and no relation between incentive compensation and the quality of M&A decisions in terms of risk and stock-price returns. Our results are robust to a number of deal and firm characteristics and to controls for selection bias and endogeneity. Our findings suggest that when a publicly listed firm is acquired, the increased negotiation power of the target and information asymmetry considerations offset the positive impact of incentive compensation on both stock-price performance and risk-taking

Value creation around merger waves: the role of managerial compensation

This paper examines the relation between executive compensation and value creation in merger waves. The sensitivity of CEO wealth to firm risk increases the likelihood of out‐of‐wave merger transactions but has no influence on in‐wave merger frequency. CEOs with compensation linked to firm risk have better out‐of‐wave merger performance in comparison to in‐wave mergers. We also present evidence that cross‐sectional acquirer return dispersion is greater for in‐wave acquisitions. Our results suggest that the underperformance of acquiring firms during merger waves can be attributed in part to ineffective compensation incentives, and appropriate managerial incentives can create value, particularly in non‐wave periods