Agency-Based Asset Pricing

49 Pages Posted: 11 May 2006 Last revised: 10 Jul 2022

See all articles by Gary B. Gorton

Gary B. Gorton

Yale School of Management; National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER); Yale University - Yale Program on Financial Stability

Ping He

Tsinghua University, SEM

Multiple version iconThere are 2 versions of this paper

Date Written: March 2006

Abstract

We analyze the interaction between managerial decisions and firm value/asset prices by embedding the standard agency model of the firm into an otherwise standard asset pricing model. When the manager-agent's compensation depends on the firm's stock price performance, stock prices are set to induce the creation of future cash flows, instead of representing the discounted value of exogenous cash flows, as in the standard model. In our case, stock prices are formed via trading in the market to induce the managers to hold the number of shares consistent with the optimal effort level desired by the outside investors. We compare two price formation mechanisms, corresponding to two firm ownership structures. In the first, stock prices are formed competitively among a continuum of dispersed investors. In the second, stock prices are set by a single block shareholder, as a bargaining solution. Under both mechanisms there are persistent, dynamic, patterns of asst prices, The level of the equity premium and the return volatility depend on the risk aversion of the agents in the economy and the ownership structure of firms.

Suggested Citation

Gorton, Gary B. and He, Ping, Agency-Based Asset Pricing (March 2006). NBER Working Paper No. w12084, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=888286

Gary B. Gorton (Contact Author)

Yale School of Management ( email )

165 Whitney Ave
P.O. Box 208200
New haven, CT 06511
United States

HOME PAGE: http://mba.yale.edu/faculty/profiles/gorton.shtml

National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER)

1050 Massachusetts Avenue
Cambridge, MA 02138
United States

Yale University - Yale Program on Financial Stability

165 Whitney Avenue
P.O. Box 208200
New Haven, CT 06520-8200
United States

Ping He

Tsinghua University, SEM ( email )

Beijing, 100084
China
8610-62795754 (Phone)
8610-62784554 (Fax)

HOME PAGE: http://www.sem.tsinghua.edu.cn/en/heping