In the paper, Executive Turnover Following Option Backdating Allegations, forthcoming in The Accounting Review, we investigate how the Board of Directors and the managerial labor market (two private-sector monitoring mechanisms) respond to an allegation of option backdating. Allegations have been directed at numerous well-known public companies, including Microsoft, Apple, Home Depot, Costco, and United Health. Backdating occurs when executives designate as the grant date a day earlier than the one on which the board actually made the decision to grant options. Managers typically select an earlier date when the market price was lower, so they receive options that are already “in-the-money” on the actual grant date.

…continue reading: Executive Turnover Following Option Backdating Allegations