Sektorsskillnader i aktierelaterade ersättningar - En kvalitativ studie av incitamentsprogram inom OMX Large Cap
Background and problem: There is a continuous debate regarding incentive programs in public companies. Since the global financial crisis and the subsequent recession in 2008, the criticism has reached even higher levels. Various regulatory authorities as well as influential external actors require stronger regulations and limitation of the monetary compensation in publicly held companies. Share-based payments are based on the development of the market value of the company. This means there is an existing relation between the owners? and the managers? interests. In this thesis share based incentive programs are related to agency theory and other related theory in order to explain why and how incentive programs are used in companies. Purpose: The purpose is to examine whether there exist sectorial differences in the construction of share based incentive programs and, using theory, explain differences. Delimitations: The thesis is delimited to the two sectors Finance and Industrial at the NASDAQ OMX Large Cap. Methodology: The study is designed as a qualitative case study since the purpose of the thesis is to describe and explain how share based incentive programs are constructed within different sectors of the OMX Large Cap. The methodology used is therefore both exploratory as well as comparative. The examined sample is 30 companies. Several predictions will be formulated using the theory and will then be tested against the empirical material.Empirical results and conclusions: The conclusion is that some sectorial differences exist, mainly in form of design, terms and condition of the programmes. The predictions are partly supported by the empirical results.Suggestions for further research: As further research, the connection to taxation is suggested, as well as a qualitative study focusing on the people of the board of directors.