The Relation Between Equity Incentives and Misreporting: The Role of Risk-Taking Incentives

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Penn collection
Accounting Papers
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
equity incentives
executive compensation
misreporting
earnings management
restatements
SEC enforcement actions
Accounting
Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Armstrong, Christopher S
Larcker, David F
Ormazabal, Gaizka
Taylor, Daniel J
Contributor
Abstract

Prior research argues that a manager whose wealth is more sensitive to changes in the firm׳s stock price has a greater incentive to misreport. However, if the manager is risk-averse and misreporting increases both equity values and equity risk, the sensitivity of the manager׳s wealth to changes in stock price (portfolio delta) will have two countervailing incentive effects: a positive “reward effect” and a negative “risk effect.” In contrast, the sensitivity of the manager׳s wealth to changes in risk (portfolio vega) will have an unambiguously positive incentive effect. We show that jointly considering the incentive effects of both portfolio delta and portfolio vega substantially alters inferences reported in prior literature. Using both regression and matching designs, and measuring misreporting using discretionary accruals, restatements, and enforcement actions, we find strong evidence of a positive relation between vega and misreporting and that the incentives provided by vega subsume those of delta. Collectively, our results suggest that equity portfolios provide managers with incentives to misreport when they make managers less averse to equity risk.

Advisor
Date Range for Data Collection (Start Date)
Date Range for Data Collection (End Date)
Digital Object Identifier
Series name and number
Publication date
2013-08-01
Journal title
Journal of Financial Economics
Volume number
Issue number
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Journal Issue
Comments
Recommended citation
Collection