Electrical Development Company of Ontario certificate of stock ownership, ca. 1910.

The Electrical Development Company of Ontario was created in 1903. It was one of three private power companies that had water power leases with the Niagara Parks Commission, but was the only one that was financed with Canadian capital. The company built the Toronto Power Generating Station at Niagara Falls beginning in 1906, and the power house was completed in 1913. During the construction, there was much debate about whether the utility should remain privately operated or become a public utility. In 1920, the company became part of the public utility.

Executive Stock Ownership and Performance: Tracking Faint Traces

We examine the relation between managers' financial interests and firm performance. Since the relation could go in either direction, we cast the analysis in a simultaneous equations framework. For firms involved in acquisitions, we find that acquisition performance and Tobin's Q ratios affect the size of managers' stockholdings. We find no evidence, however, that larger stockholdings lead to better performance. Perhaps management is effectively disciplined by competition in product and labor markets. Alternatively, it may not be necessary for top executives to own stock to the residual claimants. And finally, higher ownership might multiply the opportunities to appropriate corporate wealth.

Merger decisions and executive stock ownership in acquiring firms

This study supports the proposition that managerial welfare affects merger decisions. The abnormal stock returns experienced by bidder firms, from the time of the announcement of a merger bid through the stockholder approval date, are positively relaterd to the percentage of own-company stock held by the senior management of the bidder. The results suggest that substantial amounts of own-company share ownership help align the interests of stockholders and management.

Capitalizing workers : the impact of employee stock ownership plans in selected developing countries /

"PN-AAL-033"--Cover.

Employees stock ownership plans : hearing before the Subcommittee on Economic Stabilization of the Committee on Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs, House of Representatives, Ninety-sixth Congress, first session, February 27, 1979.

"Serial 95-2."

A selected bibliography. Employee stock ownership in the United States ...

Mode of access: Internet.

A report on employee stock-ownership plans,

Mode of access: Internet.

Essays on Stock Option Compensation and the Role of Incentives and Risk (summary section only)

Managerial pay-for-performance sensitivity has increased rapidly around the world. Early empirical research showed that pay-for-performance sensitivity resulting from stock ownership and stock options appeared to be quite low during the 1970s and early 1980s in the U.S. However, recent empirical research from the U.S. shows an enormous increase in pay-for-performance sensitivity. The global trend has also reached Finland, where stock options have become a major ingredient of executive compensation. The fact that stock options seem to be an appealing form of remuneration from a theoretical point of view combined with the observation that the use of this compensation form has increased significantly during the recent years, implies that research on the dynamics of stock option compensation is highly relevant for the academic community, as well as for practitioners and regulators. The research questions of the thesis are analyzed in four separate essays. The first essay examines whether stock option compensation practices of Finnish firms are consistent with predictions from principal-agent theory. The second essay explores one of the major puzzles in the compensation literature by studying determinants of stock option contract design. In theory, optimal contract design should vary according to firm characteristics. However, in the U.S., variation in contract design seems to be surprisingly low, a phenomenon generally attributed to tax and accounting considerations. In Finland, however, firms are not subject to stringent contracting restrictions, and the variation in contract design tends, in fact, to be quite substantial. The third essay studies the impact of price- and risk incentives arising from stock option compensation on firm investment. In addition, the essay explores one of the most debated questions in the literature, in particular, the relation between incentives and firm performance. Finally, several strands of literature in both economics and corporate finance hypothesize that economic uncertainty is related to corporate decision-making. Previous research has shown that risk tends to slow down firm investment. In the fourth essay, it is hypothesized that firm risk slows down growth from a more universal perspective. Consistent with this view, it is shown that risk not only tends to slow down firm investment, but also employment growth. Moreover, the essay explores whether the nature of firms’ compensation policies, in particular, whether firms make use of stock option compensation, affects the relation between risk and firm growth. In summary, the four essays contribute to the current understanding of stock options as a form of equity incentives, and how incentives and risk affect corporate decision-making. By this, the thesis promotes the knowledge related to the modern theory of the firm.

The value of local partners in Brazil: the effects of ownership clusters and business group membership on firm value in emerging markets

Este estudo analisa como a classe de acionistas afeta o valor das empresas brasileiras listadas na bolsa de valores no ponto de vista da governança corporativa. O trabalho examina a interação entre o valor das empresas e cinco tipos de concentrações acionárias comumente presente em mercados emergentes: famílias, agentes públicos, investidores estrangeiros, executivos e investidores financeiros nacionais. A análise empírica demonstra que o mix e a concentração de participação acionária afeta significativamente o valor das empresas. Utilizando uma compilação única de dados em painel de 2004 a 2008, a presente pesquisa também desenvolve hipóteses sobre o efeito da participação em grupos econômicos para o valor das empresas. A investigação encontra evidências de que, apesar de sua importância para o desenvolvimento de empresas brasileiras, o capital familiar, instituições públicas, e investidores estrangeiros estão cedendo lugar a monitores mais especializados e menos concentrados, como executivos e instituições financeiras nacionais. Estes resultados indicam que a governança corporativa no Brasil pode estar alcançando níveis de maturidade mais elevados. Adicionalmente, apesar de não haver indicação da existência de correlação entre a participação em grupos econômicos e o valor das empresas, os resultados indicam que a presença de um tipo específico de acionista em uma empresa do grupo facilita investimentos futuros desta classe de acionista em outras empresas do mesmo grupo, sinalizando que os interesses acionários são provavelmente perpetuados dentro de uma mesma rede de empresas. Finalmente, a pesquisa demonstra que enquanto o capital familiar prefere investir em empresas com ativa mobilidade do capital, investidores internacionais e instituições públicas procuram investimentos em equity com menor mobilidade de capital, o que lhes garante mais transparência com relação ao uso dos recursos e fundos das empresas.

Non executive employee stock options and corporate innovation

We provide empirical evidence on the positive effect of non-executive employee stock options on corporate innovation. The positive effect is more pronounced when employees are more important for innovation, when free-riding among employees is weaker, when options are granted broadly to most employees, when the average expiration period of options is longer, and when employee stock ownership is lower. Further analysis reveals that employee stock options foster innovation mainly through the risk-taking incentive, rather than the performance-based incentive created by stock options.

Les impacts de la satisfaction envers les régimes de rémunération variable sur l’engagement organisationnel des travailleurs

Ce mémoire a pour objectif de comprendre l’impact de la satisfaction envers les régimes de rémunération variable sur l’engagement organisationnel des travailleurs. Pour étudier cette question, nous avons utilisé trois hypothèses basées sur la théorie des attentes ainsi que sur la théorie de l’agence. La première hypothèse stipule que la satisfaction envers les régimes de bonis fait augmenter le niveau d’engagement organisationnel des travailleurs. La deuxième hypothèse est que la satisfaction envers les régimes de partage des bénéfices fait augmenter le niveau d’engagement organisationnel des travailleurs. La troisième hypothèse stipule que la satisfaction envers les régimes d’actionnariat fait augmenter le niveau d’engagement organisationnel des travailleurs. Nous avons utilisé une base de données provenant d’une enquête plus large portant sur « les liens entre la rémunération, la formation et le développement des compétences et l’attraction et la rétention d’employés clés ». L’entreprise où les données ont été collectées œuvre dans le secteur des technologies de l’information et des communications (TIC). Les nouveaux employés embauchés dans cette entreprise établie à Montréal ont été interrogés. Nos résultats nous permettent de confirmer deux de nos hypothèses, soit celle qui concerne les régimes de bonis et celle qui concerne les régimes d’actionnariat. Nos résultats indiquent que les individus satisfaits à l’égard des régimes de rémunération variable, plus précisément envers les régimes de bonis et les régimes d’actionnariat, présentent de plus hauts niveaux d’engagement organisationnel. Le soutien organisationnel perçu est également un facteur important dans le développement de l’engagement organisationnel. Finalement, nous concluons ce mémoire avec l’implication de nos résultats pour les différents acteurs en relations industrielles.

Compañías incluyentes: ¿una nueva receta para doblegar a la pobreza en el Ecuador?

En varias provincias del Ecuador se puede evidenciar la pobreza extrema, siendo las poblaciones afroecuatorianas e indígenas las más afectadas. La mayor concentración indígena se encuentra en la provincia del Chimborazo, en donde las condiciones esenciales de vida son incipientes dando como resultado un alto índice de desocupación, escaso acceso a la salud y educación; favoreciendo de esta manera a la emigración. Razón por la cual, surge la idea de un grupo de familias indígenas del Chimborazo; para que sean parte de la cementera de la provincia, a través de la venta de acciones. A esta propuesta se la conoce con el nombre de compañías incluyentes y en el caso de la provincia del Chimborazo se lo denomina como Pobres Inc. La idea en mención es una adaptación de casos exitosos como son la aldea Huaxi en China, pueblos indígenas en Alaska, los ESOPS (Plrules de la Propiedad de Acciones de Empleado, o Employee Stock Ownership Plans) en Estados Unidos entre los más relevantes. Uno de los objetivos de esta tesis es determinar si esta propuesta es de carácter incluyente o solo puede ser aplicada bajo ciertos parámetros y hacia ciertas personas, determinaremos sí las compañías incluyentes son una nueva alternativa para combatir a la pobreza o solo se convertirá en otro proyecto fallido de la región.

Directors' remuneration and performance in Australian banking

This paper explores the relationship between directors' pay and performance within Australian banking, using panel data for the 1992-2005 period. The relationship between CEO pay and performance is investigated also. Several earnings models are estimated, using different dependent variables, alternate measures of performance and different estimation techniques. The results indicate an absence of a contemporaneous relationship between directors' pay and bank performance, and no association with prior year performance. However, there is a more distant pay-performance relationship, with total directors' pay having a robust positive association with earnings per share lagged two years, as well as with ROE lagged two years. The other key determinants of directors' pay in Australian banking are bank specific managerial policies, lags in the administration of pay, bank size, directors' age and directors' stock ownership. In contrast to total directors' pay, the evidence confirms a strong positive and direct association between CEO remuneration and prior year bank performance. The pay-performance association is stronger and more direct for CEO remuneration than it is for total directors' remuneration. The responsiveness of CEO pay with respect to bank performance appears to have increased over time.

Strategic vote manipulation in a simple democracy

In both the Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) and employee buyouts, the common and crucial phenomenon is that some workers have two sources of income, namely wages and shares of profit. We analyze that phenomenon in an economy where workers are nonunionized and wages are determined by voting. If the employers sell a certain amount of shares of the capital stock to some non-risk-loving workers, these workers vote for the lowest possible wage along with the employers. As a result, all workers become equally worse off because of the competition among workers to buy those shares.