Selected Publications and Working Papers

Downloadable Working Papers

“Remuneration: Where we've been, how we got to here, what are the problems, and how to fix them,” (with Michael C. Jensen and Eric Wruck), (July 2004).

"Managerial Capital and the Market for CEOs" (with Jan Zabojnik) (October 2003)

“Strategic Alliances: Bridges Between 'Islands of Conscious Power',” (with George Baker and Robert Gibbons) University of Southern California (August 2004).

"Discretion in Executive Incentive Contracts," (with Paul Oyer). (June 2003)

"Governance, Behavior, and Performance or State and Corporate Pension Plans," (with Karen Van Nuys). (September 1994)

Published Articles
(note: many of the downloadable papers are the final "working paper" versions)

"CEO Pay and Appointments: A Market-based explanation for recent trends" (with Jan Zabojnik), American Economic Review Papers and Proceedings, (May 2004).

"The Trouble with Stock Options" (with Brian J. Hall) Journal of Economic Perspectives (Summer 2003), Vol 17(3), 49-70.

“Stock-Based Pay in New Economy Firms,” Journal of Accounting and Economics, (January 2003)

“Explaining Executive Compensation: Managerial Power versus the Perceived Cost of Stock Options,” University of Chicago Law Review, Vol. 69(3) (Summer 2002): 847-869.

“Stock Options for Undiversified Executives,” (with Brian J. Hall) Journal of Accounting and Economics, Vol 33(1) (February 2002): 3-42.

“Relational Contracts and the Theory of the Firm,” (with George Baker and Robert Gibbons), Quarterly Journal of Economics Vol. 33 (February 2002).

“Bringing the Market Inside the Firm?” (with George Baker and Robert Gibbons), American Economic Review Vol. 92 (May 2001).

“Performance Standards in Incentive Contracts,” Journal of Accounting and Economics, Vol. 30 (3) (December 2000).

“The Prince and the Pauper? CEO Pay in the US and UK,” (with Martin J. Conyon), Economic Journal (November, 2000).

“Optimal Exercise Prices for Executive Stock Options,” (with Brian J. Hall), American Economic Review (May 2000). (Downloadable spreadsheets)

“Informal Authority in Organizations” (with George Baker and Robert Gibbons), Journal of Law, Economics, and Organizations Vol. 15, No. 1 (1999).

“Executive Compensation,” in Orley Ashenfelter and David Card (eds.), Handbook of Labor Economics, Vol. 3, North Holland (1999).

“Executive Compensation and the Modern Industrial Revolution.” International Journal of Industrial Organization, Vol. 15 (July 1997).

“Reporting Choice and the 1992 Proxy Disclosure Rules.” Journal of Accounting, Auditing, and Finance, Vol. 11, No. 3 (Summer 1996).

“Incentives, Downsizing, and Value Creation at General Dynamics,” (with Jay Dial). Journal of Financial Economics, Vol. 37, No. 3 (December 1994).

“Politics, Economics, and Executive Compensation,” University of Cincinatti Law Review, Volume 63, No. 2 (Winter 1995).

“Subjective Performance Measures in Optimal Incentive Contracts,” (with George P. Baker and Robert Gibbons). Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1994.

“Financial Performance Surrounding CEO Turnover,” (with Jerold L. Zimmerman), Journal of Accounting and Economics, Vol. 16 (1993).

“Does Executive Compensation Affect Investment?” (with Robert Gibbons), Journal of Applied Corporate Finance , Vol. 5, No. 2 (Summer 1992).

“Optimal Incentive Contracts in the Presence of Career Concerns: Theory and Evidence” (with Robert Gibbons), Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 100, No. 3 (June 1992).

“Performance Measurement and Appraisal: Motivating Managers to Identify and Reward Performance,” Performance Measurement, Evaluation, and Incentives, edited by William J. Bruns, Jr. (Harvard Business School Press, Boston, 1992). Reprinted in Employment Relations Today, Vol. 20, No. 1 (Spring, 1993).

“CEO Incentives: It's Not How Much You Pay, But How” (with Michael C. Jensen), Harvard Business Review, (May/June, 1990). Reprinted in Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Vol. 3, No. 3 (Fall 1990).

“Performance Pay and Top-Management Incentives” (with Michael C. Jensen), Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 98, No. 2 (April 1990).

“Relative Performance Evaluation for Chief Executive Officers” (with Robert Gibbons), Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Vol. 43, No. 3 (February 1990). Reprinted in Do Compensation Policies Matter? edited by Ronald G. Ehrenberg (ILR Press-Cornell, Ithaca NY, 1990).

“Compensation and Incentives: Practice vs. Theory” (with George P. Baker and Michael C. Jensen), Journal of Finance, Vol. 43, No. 3 (July 1988).

“Incentives, Learning, and Compensation: A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation of Managerial Labor Contracts,” Rand Journal of Economics, Vol. 17, No. 1 (Spring 1986).

“Top Executives Are Worth Every Nickel They Get,” Harvard Business Review, Vol. 64, No. 2 (March/April 1986). Reprinted in Taking Sides, 2nd edition, edited by Lisa H. Newton and Maureen M. Ford (Dushkin Publishing Group, Inc., Guilford CT, 1992).

“Corporate Performance and Managerial Remuneration: An Empirical Investigation,” Journal of Accounting and Economics, Vol. 7, Nos. 1-3 (April 1985).

Books Edited

The Economics of Executive Compensation (co-edited with Kevin Hallock), Edward Elgar Publishing Limited, 1999.

Comments, Cases, and Other Articles

“Option Value Does Not Equal Option Cost,” (with Brian Hall), WorldatWork Journal, 10(2), 2001.

“The Economics of Executive Compensation: Introduction,” (with Kevin F. Hallock), in The Economics of Executive Compensation (K. Murphy and K. Hallock, eds.), Edward Elgar Publishing, 1999.

“Executive Stock Options: An Economist's Perspective,” in Stock Options, American Compensation Association, 1998.

“Disney Offers a Model for Executive Compensation,” Los Angeles Business Journal, June 23, 1997.

“CEO Pay and Downsizing: The Social Consequences,” in CEO Pay: A Comprehensive Look, American Compensation Association, 1997.

“Compensation at Lexerd Systems,” (with Michael C. Jensen), Harvard Business Case 494-066 (April 1994).

“Executive Compensation in Corporate America 1993,” United Shareholders Association, (Nov. 1993).

“Executive Compensation in Corporate America 1992,” United Shareholders Association, (Dec. 1992).

“Compensation and Strategy and General Dynamics (A), (B),” Harvard Business Cases 9-494-048 and 9-494-049 (October 1993).

“Merck & Co., Inc. (A), (B),” Harvard Business Cases 9-491-005 and 9-491-006 (November, 1991).

“A New Survey of Executive Compensation: Full Survey and Technical Appendix to `CEO Incentives — It's Not How Much You Pay but How,” Simon School of Business, University of Rochester (June 1990).

“The Control and Performance of State-Owned Enterprises: Comment,” in Privatization and State-Owned Enterprises, edited by Paul MacAvoy, W. T. Stanbury, George Yarrow, and Richard J. Zeckhauser (Kluwer Academic Publishers, Boston, 1989).

“Is Executive Compensation Related to Company Performance?” Rochester Management Review (1985).

“Beware the Self-Serving Critics” (with Michael C. Jensen), New York Times (May 20, 1984).