Stock options, performance and investment decisions in listed companies in France.

Summary The present research is built around the question of the relevance of stock options in terms of incentives for their beneficiaries. First of all, the objective of this work was to improve knowledge of the characteristics of stock option plans implemented within listed companies in France. Thus, an overview of these plans has been drawn up. An advantageous and developed remuneration practice has been highlighted. Then, interest is focused on the impact of stock option grants to managers and employees on accounting and stock market performance. The empirical study shows that the use of stock market performance indicators validates the incentive hypothesis, whereas the use of accounting measures shows insignificant results. Finally, the impact of the use of stock options on. R the direction of investment decisions has been analyzed. We show that stock option grants lead to a decrease in the level of investment and that part of the influence of these grants on stock market performance is linked to investment decisions.