total compensation ratio does not change the result. Therefore, the non-monotonic relationship between stock- based compensation and firm performance can be captured in the quantile regression regardless of the variations in different industries and years, and the various measures of accounting or market performance. In contrast, results in the relationship between stock-based compen- sation and firm performance that appears in the related literature could be the neglect of risk adjustment in measuring firm performance. This interesting issue deserves further analysis in future research.