Pay-Performance Sensitivity Before and after SOX

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact on pay-performance sensitivity of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. We compare managers’ pay-performance sensitivity before and after 2001-2002, a period during which regulatory changes were initiated to increase scrutiny over managerial manipulation and improve financial reporting quality. Based on ExecuComp data from 1992 to 2005 (and excluding the years 2001 and 2002), our results show that pay-performance sensitivity using either market-based or accounting-based measures of performance increased significantly following these events. When we further decompose executive pay into its cash-based and equity-based components, we find evidence of an increase in the link between performance and executive compensation for five of six measures for each performance metric. The evidence presented here is consistent with an improvement in the perceived credibility of reported earnings and an increased reliance on earnings in compensation contracts, which in turn resulted in an increase in the link between executive compensation and shareholder wealth.