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Does obfuscating excessive CEO pay work? The influence of remuneration report readability on say-on-pay votes

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  • Reggy Hooghiemstra
  • Yu Flora Kuang
  • Bo Qin

Abstract

This paper assesses whether reducing ‘readability’ is an effective obfuscation strategy for influencing the level of shareholder say-on-pay voting dissent in firms with excessive CEO pay. Based on a sample of UK-listed firms, our results indicate that in cases of excessive CEO pay, a less readable remuneration report is associated with reduced say-on-pay voting dissent. However, the effect of the obfuscation strategy diminishes as institutional ownership increases. Using obscurely written remuneration reports may even backfire (i.e. associated with increased voting dissent) when a firm’s majority shares are held by institutional investors. Our results are robust to controlling for compensation contract complexity as well as other alternative explanations. The results are also robust to various controls for endogeneity including a two-stage instrumental variable approach and propensity-score matching. Our findings offer regulatory implications that regulators could minimize the use of ‘obfuscation’ in pay-related disclosures by prescribing how information is to be presented.

Suggested Citation

  • Reggy Hooghiemstra & Yu Flora Kuang & Bo Qin, 2017. "Does obfuscating excessive CEO pay work? The influence of remuneration report readability on say-on-pay votes," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 47(6), pages 695-729, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:acctbr:v:47:y:2017:i:6:p:695-729
    DOI: 10.1080/00014788.2017.1300516
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Jörn Obermann, 2020. "Let’s talk about money! Assessing the link between firm performance and voluntary Say-on-Pay votes," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(1), pages 109-135, February.
    2. Ammad Ahmed & Muhammad Atif & Ernest Gyapong, 2021. "Boardroom gender diversity and CEO pay deviation: Australian evidence," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 3135-3170, June.
    3. Steven S. Crawford & Karen K. Nelson & Brian R. Rountree, 2021. "Mind the gap: CEO–employee pay ratios and shareholder say‐on‐pay votes," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(1-2), pages 308-337, January.
    4. Danial Hemmings & Lynn Hodgkinson & Gwion Williams, 2020. "It's OK to pay well, if you write well: The effects of remuneration disclosure readability," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 47(5-6), pages 547-586, May.
    5. Lozano-Reina, Gabriel & Sánchez-Marín, Gregorio & Baixauli-Soler, J. Samuel, 2022. "Say-on-Pay voting dispersion in listed family and non-family firms: A panel data analysis," Journal of Family Business Strategy, Elsevier, vol. 13(1).
    6. Kalelkar, Rachana & Xu, Hongkang & Nguyen, Duong & Chen, Zheng, 2024. "Generalist CEOs and the readability of the 10-K report," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 65(C).
    7. Moreno, Alonso, 2024. "Impression management in bilingual corporate reporting: An analysis of textual characteristics in Spanish and English," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(PA).
    8. Ibrahim, Salma & Li, Hao & Yan, Yan & Zhao, Jinsha, 2021. "Pay me a single figure! Assessing the impact of single figure regulation on CEO pay," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    9. Nicola Cucari, 2019. "Determinants of say on pay vote: a configurational analysis," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 837-856, September.
    10. Fahd Alduais & Nashat Ali Almasria & Abeer Samara & Ali Masadeh, 2022. "Conciseness, Financial Disclosure, and Market Reaction: A Textual Analysis of Annual Reports in Listed Chinese Companies," IJFS, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-22, November.

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