CEO stock option awards and the timing of corporate voluntary disclosures

We investigate whether CEOs manage the timing of their voluntary disclosure s around stock option awards. We conjecture that CEOs manage investors' exp ectations around award dates by delaying good news and rushing forward bad news. For a sample of 2,039 CEO option awards by 572 firms with fixed award schedules, we document changes in share prices and analyst earnings foreca sts around option awards that are consistent with our conjecture. We also p rovide more direct evidence based on management earnings forecasts issued p rior to award dates. Our findings suggest that CEOs make opportunistic volu ntary disclosure decisions that maximize their stock option compensation. ( C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved. JEL classification: M41; D82.