IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/fip/fedgif/1084.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Say on pay laws, executive compensation, CEO pay slice, and firm value around the world

Author

Abstract

This paper examines the effects of say on pay (SoP) laws on CEO compensation, the portion of top management pay captured by CEOs, and firm valuation. Using a large cross-country sample of about 103,000 firm-year observations from 39 countries, we document that compared to our control group of firms, SoP laws are associated with 1) a lower level of CEO compensation, which partly results from lower CEO compensation growth rates and is related to CEO power, 2) a higher pay for performance sensitivity suggesting that SoP laws have the greatest effects on firms with poor performance, 3) a lower portion of total top management pay awarded to CEOs indicating lower pay inequality among top managers and 4) a higher firm value, which is related to whether the CEO?s share of total top management pay was relatively high before the laws are passed. Further, while both mandatory and advisory SoP laws are associated with lower CEO pay levels, only advisory SoP laws tighten the sensitivity of executive pay to firm performance. Collectively, our results document significant changes in executive compensation policies and firm valuation following the passage of SoP laws around the world.

Suggested Citation

  • Ricardo Correa & Ugur Lel, 2013. "Say on pay laws, executive compensation, CEO pay slice, and firm value around the world," International Finance Discussion Papers 1084, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgif:1084
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/ifdp/2013/1084/default.htm
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.federalreserve.gov/pubs/ifdp/2013/1084/ifdp1084.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Vicente Cuñat & Mireia Giné & Maria Guadalupe, 2016. "Say Pays! Shareholder Voice and Firm Performance," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 20(5), pages 1799-1834.
    2. Lazear, Edward P & Rosen, Sherwin, 1981. "Rank-Order Tournaments as Optimum Labor Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 89(5), pages 841-864, October.
    3. Stephen P. Ferris & Murali Jagannathan & A. C. Pritchard, 2003. "Too Busy to Mind the Business? Monitoring by Directors with Multiple Board Appointments," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(3), pages 1087-1111, June.
    4. John E. Core & Wayne R. Guay & David F. Larcker, 2003. "Executive equity compensation and incentives: a survey," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 9(Apr), pages 27-50.
    5. Renee B. Adams & Benjamin E. Hermalin & Michael S. Weisbach, 2010. "The Role of Boards of Directors in Corporate Governance: A Conceptual Framework and Survey," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 48(1), pages 58-107, March.
    6. Bebchuk, Lucian Arye & Fried, Jesse & Walker, David I, 2002. "Managerial Power and Rent Extraction in the Design of Executive Compensation," CEPR Discussion Papers 3558, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    7. Cai, Jie & Walkling, Ralph A., 2011. "Shareholders’ Say on Pay: Does It Create Value?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(2), pages 299-339, April.
    8. Anil Shivdasani & David Yermack, 1999. "CEO Involvement in the Selection of New Board Members: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 54(5), pages 1829-1853, October.
    9. Ryan, Harley Jr. & Wiggins, Roy III, 2004. "Who is in whose pocket? Director compensation, board independence, and barriers to effective monitoring," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 73(3), pages 497-524, September.
    10. repec:bla:jfinan:v:58:y:2003:i:3:p:1087-1112 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. Eliezer M. Fich & Anil Shivdasani, 2006. "Are Busy Boards Effective Monitors?," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(2), pages 689-724, April.
    12. Bengt Holmstrom, 1979. "Moral Hazard and Observability," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 10(1), pages 74-91, Spring.
    13. Larcker, David F. & Ormazabal, Gaizka & Taylor, Daniel J., 2011. "The market reaction to corporate governance regulation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 431-448, August.
    14. Nuno Fernandes & Miguel A. Ferreira & Pedro Matos & Kevin J. Murphy, 2013. "Are U.S. CEOs Paid More? New International Evidence," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(2), pages 323-367.
    15. Boone, Audra L. & Casares Field, Laura & Karpoff, Jonathan M. & Raheja, Charu G., 2007. "The determinants of corporate board size and composition: An empirical analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 85(1), pages 66-101, July.
    16. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Cremers, K.J. Martijn & Peyer, Urs C., 2011. "The CEO pay slice," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 199-221, October.
    17. Lucian Bebchuk, 2005. "The Growth of Executive Pay," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 283-303, Summer.
    18. Yermack, David, 1996. "Higher market valuation of companies with a small board of directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 40(2), pages 185-211, February.
    19. Jayant R. Kale & Ebru Reis & Anand Venkateswaran, 2009. "Rank‐Order Tournaments and Incentive Alignment: The Effect on Firm Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(3), pages 1479-1512, June.
    20. Aggarwal, Reena & Erel, Isil & Ferreira, Miguel & Matos, Pedro, 2011. "Does governance travel around the world? Evidence from institutional investors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(1), pages 154-181, April.
    21. Kevin J. Murphy & Jan Zabojnik, 2006. "Managerial Capital And The Market For Ceos," Working Paper 1110, Economics Department, Queen's University.
    22. Lucian Bebchuk & Jesse Fried, 2002. "Power, rent extraction, and executive compensation," CESifo Forum, ifo Institute - Leibniz Institute for Economic Research at the University of Munich, vol. 3(03), pages 23-28, October.
    23. Lucian Arye Bebchuk & Jesse M. Fried, 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 71-92, Summer.
    24. Beck, Thorsten & Clarke, George & Groff, Alberto & Keefer, Philip & Walsh, Patrick, 2000. "New tools and new tests in comparative political economy - the database of political institutions," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2283, The World Bank.
    25. Core, John E. & Holthausen, Robert W. & Larcker, David F., 1999. "Corporate governance, chief executive officer compensation, and firm performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 371-406, March.
    26. Phyllis A. Siegel & Donald C. Hambrick, 2005. "Pay Disparities Within Top Management Groups: Evidence of Harmful Effects on Performance of High-Technology Firms," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 16(3), pages 259-274, June.
    27. Ugur Lel & Darius P. Miller, 2008. "International Cross‐Listing, Firm Performance, and Top Management Turnover: A Test of the Bonding Hypothesis," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1897-1937, August.
    28. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2013. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, volume 2, number 2-b.
    29. G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), 2013. "Handbook of the Economics of Finance," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, Elsevier, volume 2, number 2-a.
    30. Murphy, Kevin J., 2013. "Executive Compensation: Where We Are, and How We Got There," Handbook of the Economics of Finance, in: G.M. Constantinides & M. Harris & R. M. Stulz (ed.), Handbook of the Economics of Finance, volume 2, chapter 0, pages 211-356, Elsevier.
    31. Randall S. Kroszner & Philip E. Strahan, 1999. "What Drives Deregulation? Economics and Politics of the Relaxation of Bank Branching Restrictions," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 114(4), pages 1437-1467.
    32. Yonca Ertimur & Fabrizio Ferri & Volkan Muslu, 2011. "Shareholder Activism and CEO Pay," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 24(2), pages 535-592.
    33. Main, Brian G M & O'Reilly, Charles A, III & Wade, James, 1993. "Top Executive Pay: Tournament or Teamwork?," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 11(4), pages 606-628, October.
    34. Enrico Perotti, 2013. "The Political Economy of Finance," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-034/IV/DSF53, Tinbergen Institute.
    35. Stephen Bryan & Robert Nash & Ajay Patel, 2010. "How the Legal System Affects the Equity Mix in Executive Compensation," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 39(1), pages 393-418, March.
    36. Karpoff, Jonathan M. & Malatesta, Paul H. & Walkling, Ralph A., 1996. "Corporate governance and shareholder initiatives: Empirical evidence," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 365-395, November.
    37. Fabrizio Ferri & David A. Maber, 2013. "Say on Pay Votes and CEO Compensation: Evidence from the UK," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 17(2), pages 527-563.
    38. David Yermack, 2010. "Shareholder Voting and Corporate Governance," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 103-125, December.
    39. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Fried, Jesse M., 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt81q3136r, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
    40. 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.
    41. Jay C. Hartzell & Laura T. Starks, 2003. "Institutional Investors and Executive Compensation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(6), pages 2351-2374, December.
    42. Dahya, Jay & Dimitrov, Orlin & McConnell, John J., 2008. "Dominant shareholders, corporate boards, and corporate value: A cross-country analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 73-100, January.
    43. Jie Cai & Jacqueline L. Garner & Ralph A. Walkling, 2009. "Electing Directors," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 64(5), pages 2389-2421, October.
    44. Kotter, Jason & Lel, Ugur, 2011. "Friends or foes? Target selection decisions of sovereign wealth funds and their consequences," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 360-381, August.
    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. Robert W. Odewale & Hasnah Kamardin, 2015. "Directors’ Remuneration Disclosure Transparency in Nigeria and the Influence of Block Share Ownership," International Journal of Business and Social Research, LAR Center Press, vol. 5(8), pages 65-78, August.
    2. Ilchechen Coelho, Giselle Cilaine & Fontes Filho, Joaquim Rubens & Buchbinder, Felipe, 2019. "Effects of the Corporate Governance Practices on the Executive Compensation," 7th International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship: Embracing Diversity in Organisations (Dubrovnik, 2019), in: 7th International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship: Embracing Diversity in Organisations. April 5th - 6th, 2019, Dubrovn, pages 41-58, Governance Research and Development Centre (CIRU), Zagreb.
    3. Ghannam, Samir & Matolcsy, Zoltan P. & Spiropoulos, Helen & Thai, Nathan, 2019. "The influence of powerful non-executive Chairs in Mergers and acquisitions," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1), pages 87-104.
    4. Martin Bugeja & Zoltan Matolcsy & Helen Spiropoulos, 2016. "The Association Between Gender-Diverse Compensation Committees and CEO Compensation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 139(2), pages 375-390, December.
    5. Zagonov, Maxim & Salganik-Shoshan, Galla, 2018. "CEO Pay Slice as a measure of CEO dominance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 571-576.
    6. Robert W. Odewale & Hasnah Kamardin, 2015. "Directors’ Remuneration Disclosure Transparency in Nigeria and the Influence of Block Share Ownership," International Journal of Business and Social Research, MIR Center for Socio-Economic Research, vol. 5(8), pages 65-78, August.

    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. Correa, Ricardo & Lel, Ugur, 2016. "Say on pay laws, executive compensation, pay slice, and firm valuation around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 500-520.
    2. James Borthwick & Aelee Jun & Shiguang Ma, 2020. "Changing board behaviour: The role of the ‘Two Strikes’ rule in improving the efficacy of Australian Say‐on‐Pay," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(S1), pages 827-876, April.
    3. Focke, Florens & Maug, Ernst & Niessen-Ruenzi, Alexandra, 2017. "The impact of firm prestige on executive compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 123(2), pages 313-336.
    4. Ng, Lilian & Sibilkov, Valeriy & Wang, Qinghai & Zaiats, Nataliya, 2011. "Does shareholder approval requirement of equity compensation plans matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 1510-1530.
    5. Vo, Thi Thanh Nha & Canil, Jean Milva, 2019. "CEO pay disparity: Efficient contracting or managerial power?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 168-190.
    6. Pamela Kent & Kim Kercher & James Routledge, 2018. "Remuneration committees, shareholder dissent on CEO pay and the CEO pay–performance link," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(2), pages 445-475, June.
    7. Schmid, Stefan & Altfeld, Frederic & Dauth, Tobias, 2018. "Americanization as a driver of CEO pay in Europe: The moderating role of CEO power," Journal of World Business, Elsevier, vol. 53(4), pages 433-451.
    8. Stacey Beaumont & Raluca Ratiu & David Reeb & Glenn Boyle & Philip Brown & Alexander Szimayer & Raymond Silva Rosa & David Hillier & Patrick McColgan & Athanasios Tsekeris & Bryan Howieson & Zoltan Ma, 2016. "Comments on Shan and Walter: ‘Towards a Set of Design Principles for Executive Compensation Contracts’," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 52(4), pages 685-771, December.
    9. Daniel Beck & Gunther Friedl & Peter Schäfer, 2020. "Executive compensation in Germany," Journal of Business Economics, Springer, vol. 90(5), pages 787-824, June.
    10. Duong, Lien & Evans, John, 2015. "CFO compensation: Evidence from Australia," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(PA), pages 425-443.
    11. Ormazabal, Gaizka, 2018. "The Role of Stakeholders in Corporate Governance: A View from Accounting Research," CEPR Discussion Papers 12775, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Chongwoo Choe & Gloria Tian & Xiangkang Yin, 2008. "Managerial Power, Stock-Based Compensation, And Firm Performance: Theory And Evidence," Monash Economics Working Papers 21/08, Monash University, Department of Economics.
    13. Tor‐Erik Bakke & Hamed Mahmudi & Ashley Newton, 2020. "Performance peer groups in CEO compensation contracts," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 49(4), pages 997-1027, December.
    14. Peter Iliev & Svetla Vitanova, 2019. "The Effect of the Say-on-Pay Vote in the United States," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(10), pages 4505-4521, October.
    15. Anne Amar-Sabbah & Pierre Batteau, 2018. "CEO Compensation: Agency Theory is Irrelevant but not the Neoclassical Game-Theoretic Framework," Working Papers halshs-01818600, HAL.
    16. Loureiro, Gilberto & Makhija, Anil K. & Zhang, Dan, 2011. "Why Do Some CEOs Work for a One-Dollary Salary?," Working Paper Series 2011-7, Ohio State University, Charles A. Dice Center for Research in Financial Economics.
    17. Dev R. Mishra, 2021. "Charitable inclination and the chief executive officer's pay package," The Financial Review, Eastern Finance Association, vol. 56(1), pages 85-108, February.
    18. Sun, Jerry & Cahan, Steven F. & Emanuel, David, 2009. "Compensation committee governance quality, chief executive officer stock option grants, and future firm performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 33(8), pages 1507-1519, August.
    19. Choe, Chongwoo & Tian, Gloria Y. & Yin, Xiangkang, 2014. "CEO power and the structure of CEO pay," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 237-248.
    20. Neupane, Biwesh & Thapa, Chandra & Marshall, Andrew & Neupane, Suman & Shrestha, Chaman, 2024. "Do foreign institutional investors improve board monitoring?," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).

    More about this item

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    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:fip:fedgif:1084. 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: Ryan Wolfslayer ; Keisha Fournillier (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/frbgvus.html .

    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.