This paper contributes to the literature on agency problems in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) by showing that CEO-level variation in agency problems can meaningfully affect acquisition policy. This paper also adds to the growing literature recognizing the importance of CEO characteristics for a range of corporate policies (Bertrand and Schoar, 2003). Whereas several papers have focused on the contributions of CEOs through their heterogeneous abilities (e.g., firm-specific versus general skills, Murphy and Zabojnik, 2004; leadership versus team skills, Kaplan, Klebanov, and Sorensen, 2012; industry expertise, Custodio and Metzger, 2010), this paper examines how heteroge- neous CEO characteristics can be a source of varying agency problems.
This paper also highlights the difficulty boards face in devising effective compensation schemes. The incentives in this paper likely arise from common practices whereby acquisitions serve as opportunities to negotiate for higher compensation (Harford and Li, 2007; Grinstein and Hribar,
2004). The evidence suggests that this practice may give younger CEOs overly powerful incentives to pursue acquisitions. Prior work has explored the tradeoffs boards face in advising, monitoring, and incentivizing the CEO (Adams and Ferreira, 2007; Faleye, Hoitash, and Hoitash,
2011; Acharya, John, and Sundaram, 2000). This paper adds to the literature underscoring the complexity of their job: not only must boards anticipate the impact of CEO personal preferences on firm policy, they must be able to respond to them by devising proper compensation incentives.
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