A Study on the Structure and Influence Factors of Equity Incentive Contracts-Based on the Data of Listed Companies After Non-tradable Shares Reform

Equity incentive is an important instrument of corporate governance innovation in listed companies. In this article, we investigated the effectiveness of equity incentive plans on firm performance and the determinants of their contracts structure on the basis of the data of China's listed companies having operated equity incentive plans after Non-tradable Shares Reform. The results show that: 1) equity incentive produces a positive effect on improving firm performance; 2) in the plans having implemented successfully, their contracts are influenced by the companies' characteristics under the established rules constraint. Ownership identity, growth and size are the significant factors for choosing incentive category and firm industry and size are the significant factors for ascertaining the incentive objects. Our findings contribute to providing support for the development of equity incentive theory and the design of equity incentive plans suitable for listed companies in China.