主管:中国科学院
主办:中国优选法统筹法与经济数学研究会
   中国科学院科技战略咨询研究院
Articles

Principal-Agent Problem under the Condition of Existing Primary and Secondary Principals:Theoretical Model and Experiment Research

Expand
  • School of Economics and Business Administration, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400030, China

Received date: 2013-04-29

  Revised date: 2014-01-23

  Online published: 2015-04-24

Abstract

In the real world, an agent usually has a primary principal and a secondary principal at the same time, and there exist different principal-agent relationships between the primary principal, the secondary principal and the agent respectively. Drawing on the agent's utility function and effort cost function provided by Siqueira, Sandler and Cauley(2009), a principal-agent model is set under the condition of existing primary and secondary principals on the basis of traditional principal-agent theories and different roles of primary and secondary principals in the principal-agent relationship, and gets the optimal incentive compensation paid to the agent by the primary principal and the agent's optimal effort level for the primary principal is otiained, and the comparative analysis is carried on the principal-agent relationships under the condition of existing primary and secondary principals and that under the condition of a single principal based on the above-mentioned model. Then, taking MBA students, EMBA students, senior managers training students, MPAcc students, doctoral candidates, master degree candidates and undergraduates of our university as experimental subjects, experimental data is collected by interviews and questionnaire to make the experimental test of the model results. The main theoretical and experimental research results are as follows. Firstly, when the agent's effort for the secondary principal has externalities to the primary principal, the incentive compensation paid to the agent by the primary principal and the agent's optimal effort level for the primary principal will be higher than that under a single principal respectively. Secondly, when the agent's effort for the secondary principal has positive (or negative) externalities to the primary principal, the primary principal will gain more (or less) expected earning than that under a single principal. Thirdly, when the agent's effort for the secondary principal does not exist externalities to the primary principal, the incentive compensation paid to the agent by the primary principal, the primary principal's expected earning and the agent's optimal effort level for the primary principal will be same as that under a single principal respectively. Fourthly, the agent's total expected earning under the condition of existing primary and secondary principals will be higher than that under a single principal. The traditional principal-agent theory is expanded and deepened based on different roles of primary and secondary principals in the principal-agent relationship, and methodology is provided for solving the generally existing principal-agent problems between principals playing different roles and agents, and theoretical guidance for building the reasonable organizational system and governance mechanism, straightening out the internal principal-agent relationship between superiors and subordinates, improving the multiple principal-agent mechanism, and reducing the agent's moral hazard and the loss of primary principal.

Cite this article

CHEN Qi-an, LIU Ai-ping, LI Hong-qiang . Principal-Agent Problem under the Condition of Existing Primary and Secondary Principals:Theoretical Model and Experiment Research[J]. Chinese Journal of Management Science, 2015 , 23(4) : 139 -147 . DOI: 10.16381/j.cnki.issn1003-207x.2015.04.017

References

[1] Holmstrom B, Milgrom P. Multitask principal-agent analyses:Incentive contracts, asset ownership, and job design[J]. The Journal of Law, Economics and Organization, 1991, 7(S1):24-52.

[2] Sinclair-Desgagne B. How to restore higher powered incentives in multitask agencies[J]. Journal of law, Economics & Organization, 1999, 15(2):418-433.

[3] Dewatripont M, Jewitt I, Tirole J. The economics of career concerns[J]. Review of Economics Studies, 1999, 66(1):183-217.

[4] 冯根福. 双委托代理理论:上市公司治理的另一种分析框架[J]. 经济研究, 2004, 39(12):16-25.

[5] 袁江天, 张维. 多任务委托代理模型下国企经理激励问题研究[J]. 管理科学学报, 2006, 9(3):45-53.

[6] 邓玉林, 王文平. 基于人力资本产权的知识型员工激励机制研究[J]. 中国管理科学, 2009, 17(1):151-156.

[7] 戴春爱, 钟林, 唐小我, 等. 基于挣值的项目管理多业绩指标激励合同研究[J]. 中国管理科学, 2010, 18(6):113-121.

[8] 何艳玲, 汪广龙. 不可退出的谈判:对中国科层组织"有效治理"现象的一种解释[J]. 管理世界, 2012, (12):61-72.

[9] Bernheim B D, Whinston M D. Common marketing agency as a device for facilitating collusion [J]. The Rand Journal of Economics, 1985, 16(2):269-281.

[10] Bernheim B D, Whinston M D. Common Agency[J]. Econometrica, 1986, 54(4):923-942.

[11] Galor E. A common agency with incomplete information[J]. The Rand Journal of Economics, 1991, 22(2):274-286.

[12] Dixit A. Power of incentives in private versus public organizations[J]. The American Economic Review, 1997, 87(2):378-382.

[13] Mezzetti C. Common agency with horizontally differentiated principals [J]. The Rand Journal of Economics, 1997, 28(2):323-345.

[14] Bergemann D, Valimaki J. Dynamic common agency[J]. Journal of Economic Theory, 2003, 111(1):23-48.

[15] 骆品亮, 陆毅. 共同代理与独家代理的激励效率比较研究[J]. 管理科学学报, 2006, 9(1):48-53.

[16] Siqueira K, Sandler T, Cauley J. Common agency and state-owned enterprise reform[J]. China Economic Review, 2009, 20(2):208-217.

[17] 唐松林. 多委托人框架下政府规制问题研究评述[J]. 经济学动态, 2010, (5):112-115.

[18] Attar A, Campioni E, Piaser G, et al. On multiple-principal multiple-agent models of moral hazard[J]. Games and Economic Behavior, 2010, 68(1):376-380.

[19] 张维迎.博弈论与信息经济学[M]. 上海:上海人民出版社, 2004.
Outlines

/