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Objective: Natural dispersal or unauthorized introductions of nonnative predatory sport fish can undermine native species conservation and other fisheries management objectives. The use of reproductively sterile triploid fish may provide a lower risk stocking option (i.e., genetic and reproductive containment) for diversifying angling opportunities while possibly reducing angler motivation to illegally transplant fish. Management interest in triploid Walleye Sander vitreus is growing, and these fish are currently stocked by several fisheries agencies. However, little is known about the poststocking growth, body condition, and survival of triploid Walleye—information that is important for calibrating expectations and guiding policy regarding their use. Methods: We compared the age‐specific size, body condition, and survival of subadult (i.e., ages 0–3) triploid Walleye to those of normal diploid conspecifics in two eastern Colorado reservoirs. Paired stockings of triploid and diploid Walleye occurred over 3 years. Both fry and fingerlings were stocked each year. Result: Triploids were generally smaller in length (6.6% smaller on average) and weight (20.6% smaller) compared to diploids across all age‐classes. Despite being smaller, triploids had similar body condition relative to diploids. On average, the survival of triploids from spring stocking to their first fall was 6.3× lower than that of diploids, but no differences in survival were observed beyond this early life stage. This pattern was consistent across cohorts and reservoirs. Conclusion: The present work provides a foundation for future studies that are designed to clarify patterns of survival from spring to the first fall by accounting for size at stocking and natural‐origin fish and studies that are planned to assess the poststocking performance of triploid Walleye independent of diploids. Impact statementBalancing recreational fisheries management with native species conservation efforts can be challenging, especially in cases where anglers highly value nonnative predators. The practice of stocking sterile fish is an emerging management approach aimed at addressing concerns about introducing or maintaining existing populations of predatory fish outside of their native range. While artificially induced triploidy is among the most common methods for producing sterile fish, little is known about how triploid fish grow and survive in the wild, information that is crucial for decision making regarding their use. In this study, we provide some of the first information regarding the size, body condition, and survival of triploid Walleye relative to normal, diploid Walleye in the wild. Our findings will aid managers in making decisions regarding the use of triploid Walleyes in their programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on options models is still relevant to help buyers determine the fairness of option prices. The Black- Scholes model assumes that the stock price is lognormally distributed, whereas, in real applications, the stock price data does not match this assumption because it has different skewness and kurtosis values from the normal distribution. This condition is more suitable to be solved by non-normal models such as the Gram-Charlier and Variance Gamma. To reduce the variances, there are Antithetic Variate and Importance Sampling techniques. In this paper, we discuss an empirical study of option prices under skewness and kurtosis conditions using reduced variance techniques from two options of automotive stock (NIO) and technology stock (INTC), where we want to investigate the performance of those methods in the estimation of the stock call option price model in those two stocks. From the analysis, we found that those techniques can reduce the option price variance and give a more accurate price, where the Variance Gamma models produce the smallest MAPE compared to the other models used. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to understand how firms' asymmetric risk environment affects the CEO compensation structure. I investigate how firm's downside risk and upside potential differentially affect the choice between cash and equity compensation and the choice between stock options and restricted stock compensation. First, I show that, as downside risk (upside potential) increases, boards grant more cash compensation (more equity compensation) and less equity compensation (less cash compensation). Second, I show that the proportion of CEO option compensation in total equity compensation increases with downside risk and decreases with upside potential. My findings support the idea that boards respond to changes in their firms' risk environments by adjusting the structure of CEO compensation to reflect riskaverse CEOs' risk preferences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses the involvement of private equity (PE) firms in the orthodontic sector. PE firms raise capital from pension funds and wealthy individuals to purchase shares in orthodontic service organizations (OSOs). Critics argue that the PE model is financed on debt and may negatively affect patient care. PE acquisitions have increased in the past decade, leading to a decline in orthodontist-owned practices. The article raises concerns about the understanding of affiliate orthodontists regarding their involvement with PE firms. [Extracted from the article]

• This study examines short selling activity in the hospitality industry. • The study analyzes the demand and supply factors for short selling. • Short interest from 1996 to 2015 in airline, gambling, hotel and restaurant firms is used. • Results from multivariate regression reveal several interesting findings. The objective of the study is to examine short selling activity in the hospitality industry. Using short interest from 1996 to 2015 in airline, gambling, hotel and restaurant firms, we analyze their demand and supply factors for short selling. Results from multivariate regression reveal five interesting findings. First, short sellers short their hospitality stocks because of overvaluation, arbitrage and hedging from stock options and convertible bonds. Second, short sellers follow momentum strategies and short more stocks if there is a large divergence in investors' opinions. Third, for the supply side, the level of institutional ownership has a positive effect on short selling, but its concentration has a negative effect. Fourth, the test results of the sub-periods and individual industries show that the supply side is quite similar but there is a large variation in demand-side variables. Finally, heavily shorted hospitality stocks have poor future one-year performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We show evidence of a liquidity searching behaviour of informed investors in option listings, which was also found by Collin-Dufresne and Fos (2015) using stock markets. Nevertheless, and differently from Collin-Dufresne and Fos (2015), we find that the option bid–ask spread may be still a good proxy for informed trading, despite of the liquidity searching behaviour of informed agents. We show an upward trend in the option bid–ask spread after option introductions (as informed traders avoid trading in initial periods after listing dates due to the low liquidity environment), which is steeper for options with high chances of information asymmetries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is contributing from a practical and empirical perspective to option pricing under fuzziness. When we evaluate Black-Scholes option pricing formula with triangular fuzzy numbers, we obtain a non-triangular price that may be slightly difficult to use in practical applications. We improve the applicability of the fuzzy version of that formula by proposing and testing three triangular approximations when the subjacent asset price, its volatility and free interest rate are triangular fuzzy numbers. To check the goodness of these approximations, we firstly evaluate their closeness to the actual values of fuzzy Black and Scholes model. We find that the quality of those approximations depends on options maturity and moneyness grade and if we are pricing call or put options. We also assess the capability of those approximating methods to reflect satisfactorily real market prices and obtain good results. To develop all empirical applications, we use a sample of options on IBEX35 traded in the Spanish derivatives market on 3/1/2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the relationship between the use of stock options and bank risk in the context of the 2007–2008 financial crisis for banks that are authorised to accept deposits in the United Kingdom. These banks are affected by the European regulation on variable pay, but, to our knowledge, their usage of stock options has not been examined in previous studies. Paying bankers with stock options can generate two types of managerial incentives, namely, incentives to improve performance and incentives to take risk. Controlling for incentives to improve performance, we find that banks’ total risk and insolvency risk increase with the risk-taking incentives induced by stock options. We also find that this relationship is more pronounced surrounding the crisis period. The findings of this study can serve as institutionally relevant empirical support for the European regulation on variable pay. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We study the relationship between the proportion of option compensation in the total compensation of a CEO and the likelihood of forced turnover. Our results confirm prior findings that CEOs who receive higher option compensation are more likely to lose their jobs for poor performance. However, this positive relation between option compensation and forced turnover does not hold for influential CEOs and firms with poor governance structures. Our results are robust to various measures of firm performance, alternative definition of forced turnover, more than one lags of option compensation, inclusion of total compensation, CEO equity ownership and firm risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Many studies state that favourable accounting treatment has been one of the main reasons firms issue employee stock options. However, stock options have recently received growing criticism with a possible effect on incentive effectiveness and outrage costs. The main purpose of this study is to explore the impacts of IFRS 2 and the recent financial crisis on stock option compensation. Empirical evidence suggests that (i) IFRS 2 did not have a significant effect on the granting of stock options, and (ii) the issue of stock options is less likely to occur during a financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the valuation of employee stock options (ESOs) by Canadian financial institutions. Topics include employee share schemes, parameter estimation for ESOs, and the various models used to estimate ESO value, which includes the Pantos Model, the Binomial Model, and the Black and Scholes Model.

The article focuses on the clawbacks of Zynga Inc., a social game services provider, as per which Zynga's employees, who have got too many stock options were demanded to return some of their options to the company or else they'll be fired. It suggests an alternative contractual arrangement through which employees can negotiate to restrict clawbacks and create an efficient work-compensation exchange, hence can retain the central pillar of business culture in Silicon Valley, California.

This study examines the relationship between Executive Stock Option (ESO) exercise and firm performance in Malaysia for the period 2002-2008. We found a significant positive relationship between ESO exercise and firm performance for both market and accounting-based performance measures using data on ESO exercising from 201 non-financial companies. Our panel data analysis of fixed effect estimation indicated that Malaysian executives are most likely to exercise their options immediately after they are granted; suggesting intended behaviour of adopting ESOs rather than maximising the shareholders' wealth as governance mechanism. This early exercise pattern of Malaysian executives also indicates that executives are averse to the risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature on managers' compensation points out several factors specific to firms and to the determinants of stock options awards. At the empirical level, most studies focused on market-oriented governance mechanisms [studies on the US context (Yermack, 1995; Tzioumis, 2008)] or network-oriented systems [studies on the Japanese context (Uchida, 2006)]. We attempt to determine the factors behind stock options awards in a country characterised by a mixed governance system (market- and network-oriented) which is France. We conducted our study on a sample of 152 firms listed on the French stock market (the SBF250 index) during the 2002-2009 period. The results supported the hypothesis that the factors behind managers' stock option compensation are firm size, growth opportunities, manager's age, dividend distribution and ownership concentration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper examines the use of stock options by Australian IPOs. Stock options in this setting exhibit heterogeneity of ‘in the moneyness’ attributes. We can therefore identify incentive ‘out of the money’ options and reward ‘at or in the money’ options and study their usage. The setting also features options granted to employees (CEO, executives, non-executive directors, and managers) and external parties (e.g., underwriters, lenders, seed capitalists, and promoters). We examine the motives for granting stock options with different ‘in the moneyness’ attributes to employees and external parties, as well as the performance outcomes. Our results suggest ‘in the moneyness’ attributes of options vary according to uncertainties about growth options, general operating risks, and/or agency risks relating to the use of IPO proceeds; however, these relations do not translate into robust links from the option grants to future performance. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The straddle is one of the most popular combinations of option strategies suitable in highly volatile markets. Minimization of transaction costs is one of the three objectives for volatility trade design. The purpose of this article is to investigate the optimal total costs for writing a straddle using Taiwan stock index options (TXO) data. Assuming that TXOs are priced based on the Black-Scholes model, the optimal strike price that minimizes the total costs of writing a straddle, regardless of maturities, theoretically occurs at the point where options are about at-the-money. Empirical results are consistent with theory, implying that the pricing of TXOs is consistent with the Black-Scholes model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The terms of stock option contracts are adjusted in the event of unexpected corporate actions, and the nature of the adjustments may result in windfall gains or losses to open option positions. This paper evaluates the fairness of the two different procedures used for special cash dividends. We show that, while neither procedure is technically correct, the absolute adjustment used in the U.S. and Canada minimizes the windfall change in option value when the dividend is announced. In addition, the proportional adjustment used in Australia and Europe depends on stock price and is therefore vulnerable to temporary aberrations in the stock market. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper examines how various elements of CEOs' option portfolios create conflicting incentives for both earnings management and option backdating, and investigates the link between these two opportunistic actions in order to explain the effects. We find that higher incentives from newly granted options are associated with income-decreasing earnings management and higher incidence of backdating, whereas higher incentives from unvested outstanding options are related to income-increasing earnings management and lower incidence of backdating. However, incentives from vested outstanding options have an insignificant effect on both earnings management and backdating. As we further show that CEOs engaging in option backdating are more likely to use income-decreasing earnings management to get more favorable share price for their new option grants as well, the need for managers to diversify the increased-risk associated with stock-based compensation can clearly explain the effects of CEOs' outstanding options on both earnings management and the occurrence of backdating. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper outlines a dynamic game model to analyze the fraud information disclosure by listed companies in China since the share-splitting reform in 2005. By analyzing the conditions of coalition-proof Nash equilibrium between large shareholders and the manager, exogenous variables’ effects on the equilibrium as well as the first-order condition of the maximum utility of the supervisory department, it is concluded that efficient capital markets require a high supervising probability and intensity of penalty to the “insider” and shortened the intervals between supervising conducts as well. Moreover, there exists a unique optimum incentive stock option ratio over which fraud information disclosure becomes more rampant. This results in a higher intensity of penalty to the manager given more stock option incentive and, in contrast, a higher intensity of penalty to large shareholders of a well managed and efficiently capital-structured company once fraud information disclosure is detected. The model''s conclusions are consistent with the facts of listed companies in China. Finally, the model makes sharp suggestions for the mechanism design of stock option incentive as well as suggestions for the supervisory department to achieve efficiency of capital markets in China. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: SFAS No. 123(R) requires firms to recognize the fair value of stock options as compensation expense over the vesting period of the options. Thus, SFAS No. 123(R) leads to an overall increase in financial statement conservatism. However, it is not known whether SFAS No. 123(R) increases conditional and/or unconditional conservatism. Because the different forms of conservatism have different implications for the quality of earnings, I investigate which types of conservatism are impacted by SFAS No. 123(R) to gain insight into the ramifications of the Standard. I find that SFAS No. 123(R) leads to an increase in both unconditional and conditional conservatism. I additionally find that the Standard causes an increased negative relation between contemporaneous economic gains and income. These findings hold outside of the sample period and under a non-priced based model of conservatism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper finds that CEO stock options influence the choice, amount, and timing of funds distributed as a buyback. These results favor a managerial opportunism motive for buybacks over other theories and support two key research expectations – that buybacks impose option-induced agency costs on outside shareholders, and that managers benefit from weak governance and unclear accounting in this choice. CEOs increase their insider selling following a buyback, which also supports a managerial opportunism perspective. Once we control for these agency factors, we find no evidence that buyback activity associates reliably with EPS accretion from the reduction in common shares. We conclude that the popular use of stock buybacks as a form of cash distribution derives significantly from a strong contemporaneous relation between buybacks and CEOs’ use of stock options as additional compensation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We present an algorithm that merges a certainty-equivalence framework with the least-squares Monte Carlo algorithm to obtain the executive stock option (ESO) value for a risk-averse and undiversified agent. We account for the difference between executive’s value and firm cost of the ESO. We show how early-exercise decisions depend on executive’s preferences and its diversification degree. Because of the algorithm flexibility, it allows for multiple state-variables. As an example, we consider the case of indexed ESOs revealing a significant improvement in terms of executive’s discount respect to fixed strike ESOs. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]