3.2 Shareholding by managers or directors and the quality of earnings
Another element of governance that affects the incentives for directors to actively
monitor management and for managers to perform in the best interests of shareholders
is the compensation of directors and managers. There are two opposing views in the
literature regarding the relationship between board or management shareholding and
the quality of financial reporting. Morck et al. (1988) show that high stockholding may
cause a moral hazard and an information-asymmetry problem between the insiders
(management and directors) and outside investors. Under this managerial
entrenchment hypothesis, managers may have more incentives to exercise discretion
in accounting reporting, and monitoring and disciplining will be more difficult for
directors with an equity stake in the firm. As a result, the quality of the financial
reporting process may be compromised when stockholding by directors is high.