Human capital, capital structure, and employee pay: An empirical analysis

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Chemmanur, Thomas J.; Cheng, Yingmei; Zhang, Tianming
• 署名单位: Boston College; State University System of Florida; Florida State University; State University System of Florida; Florida State University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF FINANCIAL ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0304-405X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jfineco.2013.07.003
• 发表日期: 2013
• 页码: 478-502
• 关键词: capital structure; human capital; Labor costs

摘要

We test the predictions of Titman (1984) and Berk, Stanton, and Zechner (2010) by examining the effect of leverage on labor costs. Leverage has a significantly positive impact on cash, equity-based, and total compensation of chief executive officers (CEOs). Compensation of new CEOs hired from outside the firm is positively related to prior-year firm leverage. In addition, leverage has a positive and significant impact on average employee pay. The incremental total labor expenses associated with an increase in leverage are large enough to offset the incremental tax benefits of debt. The empirical evidence supports the theoretical prediction that labor costs limit the use of debt. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.