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The Role Of Accounting In The Use Of Employee Options, Hemang Desai, Zining Li, Suning Zhang

Accounting Research

The determinants of the dramatic increase in the use of employee stock options in the 1990s and the subsequent decline in their popularity have been the subject of intense debate. Some have argued and found evidence to support that the discretion granted to firms to avoid recognizing the fair value of options as an expense led to their overuse for employee compensation. Others have argued and found evidence that the market “sees through” the accounting treatment for options and values firms as though options were expensed at fair value, regardless of financial statement treatment. We revisit this issue with the …