V.K. Chong, I.R.C. Eggleton / Management Accounting Research 18 (2007) 312–342 317
Table 1
Expected managerial performance for the eight possible combinations between organisational commitment, information asymmetry
and reliance on an incentive-based compensation scheme
Cell Information asymmetry Incentive-based compensation scheme Expected managerial performance
Panel A: Low organisational commitment sub-sample
1 Low Low Moderate/unclear
2 Low High Moderate/unclear
3 High Low Low
4 High High High
Cell Information asymmetry Incentive-based compensation scheme Expected managerial performance
Panel B: High organisational commitment sub-sample
5 Low Low Moderate/high
6 Low High Moderate/high
7 High Low High
8 High High High
mation asymmetry situations, it is expected that managers with low levels of organisational commitment
(i.e. less committed managers) may not have the private information by which to materially enhance
their performance. Additionally, under such conditions the moral hazard problems are also likely to be
low. Therefore, a low reliance on incentive-based compensation schemes would be a more appropriate
control tool under such situations. However, even when the reliance on incentive-based compensation
schemes is high, subordinates may not possess the private information which would enable them to
materially enhance their performance. This suggests that when reliance on incentive-based compensation
schemes is high, subordinates, while having the extrinsic incentive to improve their performance, will not
be in a position to obtain it since under low information asymmetry situations the subordinate has little
information that is not known to the superior.
The aforementioned discussion suggests that managers with low levels of organisational commitment
are unwillingly to exert additional effort when reliance on incentive-based compensation schemes is low,
as there is no extrinsic incentive to do so under low information asymmetry situations. Thus, we expect
that the performance level of managers with low levels of organisational commitment will be low when
the extent of reliance on incentive-based compensation schemes and the degree of information asymmetry
are both low.
Standard agency theory predicts that when the extent of reliance on incentive-based compensation
schemes is high, individuals are motivated to exert effort to improve their performance. But, it is unclear
if the positive effect on performance will be significant enough when the extent of reliance on an
incentive-based compensation scheme is high, since they may not be in a position to possess the necessary
information to enhance their performance materially. Thus, we expect that the performance level
of managers with low organisational commitment will remain unaffected when the extent of reliance on
incentive-based compensation schemes is high and the degree of information asymmetry is low.
Standard agency theory predicts that the performance level of managers with low levels of organisational
commitment will improve when a high reliance on incentive-based compensation schemes occurs
under high information asymmetry situations. The rationale for this view is based on the argument that
less committed managers will continue to exert additional effort, with the help of their privately-held