IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/pacfin/v43y2017icp72-83.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The enhanced disclosure of executive compensation in Korea

Author

Listed:
  • Kim, So Yeon
  • Lee, Kang Ryun
  • Shin, Hyun-Han

Abstract

In Korea, with the amendment of the Financial Investment Services and Capital Markets Act (FISCMA) in 2013, the disclosure rule of executive compensation has been enhanced. The new legislation requires listed firms to disclose pay information for registered directors who earn more than 500 million Korean won in compensation per year. Using individual compensation data, we investigate whether the amended disclosure rule affects compensation level and pay–performance relation. We find no reduction in executive pay level. Rather, executives receive higher compensation after the enhanced disclosure rule. We also find that for executives who earned less than the optimal pay level in the ex ante period, pay growth rates are higher in the ex post period, suggesting that the availability of information about others' pay level affects pay changes for directors in the lower pay group. Moreover, the enhanced disclosure rule brings little improvement in pay–performance relation. Pay–market performance link has improved only for firms with good governance. Our results suggest that compensation disclosure rules need to be accompanied by good governance mechanisms in order to achieve effective compensation systems.

Suggested Citation

  • Kim, So Yeon & Lee, Kang Ryun & Shin, Hyun-Han, 2017. "The enhanced disclosure of executive compensation in Korea," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 72-83.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:43:y:2017:i:c:p:72-83
    DOI: 10.1016/j.pacfin.2017.02.005
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927538X17300811
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.pacfin.2017.02.005?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Smith, Clifford Jr. & Watts, Ross L., 1992. "The investment opportunity set and corporate financing, dividend, and compensation policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(3), pages 263-292, December.
    2. Hayes, Rachel M. & Schaefer, Scott, 2009. "CEO pay and the Lake Wobegon Effect," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 94(2), pages 280-290, November.
    3. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    4. Yermack, David, 1998. "Companies' Modest Claims about the Value of CEO Stock Option Awards," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 10(2), pages 207-226, March.
    5. Albuquerque, Ana M. & De Franco, Gus & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2013. "Peer choice in CEO compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 160-181.
    6. Andjelkovic, Aleksandar & Boyle, Glenn & McNoe, Warren, 2002. "Public disclosure of executive compensation: Do shareholders need to know?," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 10(1), pages 97-117, January.
    7. Bengt Holmstrom & Steven N. Kaplan, 2003. "The State Of U.S. Corporate Governance: What'S Right And What'S Wrong?," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 15(3), pages 8-20, March.
    8. Michael Faulkender & Jun Yang, 2013. "Is Disclosure an Effective Cleansing Mechanism? The Dynamics of Compensation Peer Benchmarking," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(3), pages 806-839.
    9. Murphy, Kevin J., 1985. "Corporate performance and managerial remuneration : An empirical analysis," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 7(1-3), pages 11-42, April.
    10. Shijun Cheng & Raffi J. Indjejikian, 2009. "The Market for Corporate Control and CEO Compensation: Complements or Substitutes?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 701-728, September.
    11. Yun W. Park & Toni Nelson & Mark R. Huson, 2001. "Executive Pay And The Disclosure Environment: Canadian Evidence," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 24(3), pages 347-365, September.
    12. Bizjak, John M. & Lemmon, Michael L. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2008. "Does the use of peer groups contribute to higher pay and less efficient compensation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 152-168, November.
    13. Garner, Jacqueline L. & Kim, Won Yong, 2013. "Are foreign investors really beneficial? Evidence from South Korea," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 62-84.
    14. Murphy, Kevin J., 1999. "Executive compensation," Handbook of Labor Economics, in: O. Ashenfelter & D. Card (ed.), Handbook of Labor Economics, edition 1, volume 3, chapter 38, pages 2485-2563, Elsevier.
    15. Kato, Takao & Kim, Woochan & Lee, Ju Ho, 2007. "Executive compensation, firm performance, and Chaebols in Korea: Evidence from new panel data," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 36-55, January.
    16. Demsetz, Harold, 1983. "The Structure of Ownership and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 375-390, June.
    17. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Jesse M. Fried, 2005. "Pay Without Performance: Overview of the Issues," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 17(4), pages 8-23, September.
    18. repec:eee:labchp:v:3:y:1999:i:pb:p:2485-2563 is not listed on IDEAS
    19. Faulkender, Michael & Yang, Jun, 2010. "Inside the black box: The role and composition of compensation peer groups," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 257-270, May.
    20. Bizjak, John & Lemmon, Michael & Nguyen, Thanh, 2011. "Are all CEOs above average? An empirical analysis of compensation peer groups and pay design," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 538-555, June.
    21. Kaplan, Steven N, 1994. "Top Executive Rewards and Firm Performance: A Comparison of Japan and the United States," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 102(3), pages 510-546, June.
    22. Jensen, Michael C & Murphy, Kevin J, 1990. "Performance Pay and Top-Management Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(2), pages 225-264, April.
    23. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    24. Basu, Sudipta & Hwang, Lee-Seok & Mitsudome, Toshiaki & Weintrop, Joseph, 2007. "Corporate governance, top executive compensation and firm performance in Japan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 56-79, January.
    25. Unite, Angelo A. & Sullivan, Michael J. & Brookman, Jeffrey & Majadillas, Mary Anne & Taningco, Angelo, 2008. "Executive pay and firm performance in the Philippines," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 16(5), pages 606-623, November.
    26. Erickson, John & Park, Yun W. & Reising, Joe & Shin, Hyun-Han, 2005. "Board composition and firm value under concentrated ownership: the Canadian evidence," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 13(4), pages 387-410, September.
    27. Baek, Jae-Seung & Kang, Jun-Koo & Suh Park, Kyung, 2004. "Corporate governance and firm value: evidence from the Korean financial crisis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 265-313, February.
    28. Cheong, Juyoung & Kim, Woochan, 2014. "Revisiting Executive Pay in Family-Controlled Firms: Family Premium in Large Business Groups," MPRA Paper 59250, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Manika Kohli, 2018. "Impact of Ownership Type and Board Characteristics on the Pay–Performance Relationship: Evidence from India," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 11(1), pages 1-34, June.
    2. Kim, Hohyun & Han, Seung Hun, 2018. "Compensation structure of family business groups," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 376-391.
    3. Suveera Gill & Manika Kohli, 2018. "Perceptual Determinants of Executive Compensation: Survey-Based Evidence from India," Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, , vol. 11(2), pages 159-184, December.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Albuquerque, Ana M. & De Franco, Gus & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2013. "Peer choice in CEO compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 160-181.
    2. Andres, Christian & Fernau, Erik & Theissen, Erik, 2014. "Should I stay or should I go? Former CEOs as monitors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 26-47.
    3. Matousek, Roman & Tzeremes, Nickolaos G., 2016. "CEO compensation and bank efficiency: An application of conditional nonparametric frontiers," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 251(1), pages 264-273.
    4. Canil, Jean & Karpavičius, Sigitas, 2020. "Compensation consultants: Does reputation matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    5. Bushman, Robert M. & Smith, Abbie J., 2001. "Financial accounting information and corporate governance," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1-3), pages 237-333, December.
    6. Yaowen Shan & Terry Walter, 2016. "Towards a Set of Design Principles for Executive Compensation Contracts," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 52(4), pages 619-684, December.
    7. Garner, Jacqueline L. & Kim, Won Yong, 2013. "Are foreign investors really beneficial? Evidence from South Korea," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 62-84.
    8. Mathijs de Vaan & Benjamin Elbers & Thomas A. DiPrete, 2019. "Obscured Transparency? Compensation Benchmarking and the Biasing of Executive Pay," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(9), pages 4299-4317, September.
    9. Zhiqiang Lu & Sarath Abeysekera & Hongyu Li, 2015. "Executive Compensation Stickiness And Peer Group Benchmarks: Evidence From Chinese Firms," The International Journal of Business and Finance Research, The Institute for Business and Finance Research, vol. 9(5), pages 25-36.
    10. Michel Magnan & Dominic Martin, 2019. "Executive Compensation and Employee Remuneration: The Flexible Principles of Justice in Pay," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 89-105, November.
    11. Bizjak, John & Lemmon, Michael & Nguyen, Thanh, 2011. "Are all CEOs above average? An empirical analysis of compensation peer groups and pay design," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 538-555, June.
    12. Roberto Barontini & Stefano Bozzi, 2011. "Board compensation and ownership structure: empirical evidence for Italian listed companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 15(1), pages 59-89, February.
    13. Francis, Bill & Hasan, Iftekhar & Mani, Sureshbabu & Ye, Pengfei, 2016. "Relative peer quality and firm performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(1), pages 196-219.
    14. Hussein Abedi Shamsabadi & Byung-Seong Min & Richard Chung, 2016. "Corporate governance and dividend strategy: lessons from Australia," International Journal of Managerial Finance, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 12(5), pages 583-610, October.
    15. Ann-Christine Schulz & Miriam Flickinger, 2020. "Does CEO (over)compensation influence corporate reputation?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 14(4), pages 903-927, August.
    16. Basu, Sudipta & Hwang, Lee-Seok & Mitsudome, Toshiaki & Weintrop, Joseph, 2007. "Corporate governance, top executive compensation and firm performance in Japan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 56-79, January.
    17. Francis, Bill & Hasan, Iftekhar & Mani, Sureshbabu & Ye, Pengfei, 2016. "Relative peer quality and firm performance," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 6/2016, Bank of Finland.
    18. Francis, Bill & Hasan, Iftekhar & Mani, Sureshbabu & Ye, Pengfei, 2016. "Relative peer quality and firm performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(1), pages 196-219.
    19. James, Hui & Benson, Bradley W. & Wu, Chen (Ken), 2017. "Does CEO ownership affect payout policy? Evidence from using CEO scaled wealth-performance sensitivity," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 328-345.
    20. Chen, Chao-Jung & Hsu, Chung-Yuan & Chen, Yu-Lin, 2014. "The impact of family control on the top management compensation mix and incentive orientation," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 29-46.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Executive compensation; Compensation disclosure; Corporate governance;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G34 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Mergers; Acquisitions; Restructuring; Corporate Governance
    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:pacfin:v:43:y:2017:i:c:p:72-83. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/pacfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.