CEO attributes, compensation, and firm value: Evidence from a structural estimation / by T. Beau Page
T. Beau Page
- Amsterdam Elsevier May 2018
- Pages 378-401
- Journal of Financial Economics 128 (2) 0304-405X .
Abstract I present and estimate a dynamic model of chief executive officer (CEO) compensation and effort provision. I find that variation in CEO attributes explains the majority of variation in compensation (equity and total) but little of the variation in firm value. The primary drivers of cross-sectional compensation are risk aversion and influence on the board. Additionally, I estimate the magnitude of CEO agency issues. Removing CEO influence increases shareholder value in the typical firm by 1.74%, making CEOs risk neutral increases shareholder value by 16.12%, and removing all agency frictions increases shareholder value by 28.99%.