IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/sha/mgtwps/04-04-2013.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Who Gets the Lion’s Share? Top Management Group Pay Disparities and Powerful CEOs

Author

Listed:
  • Patrick McClelland
  • Tor Brodtkorb

Abstract

While the distribution of pay across the hierarchy of corporations has received considerable critical attention, the distribution of pay within top management groups has received comparatively little. This paper contributes to the established literature by moving the debate beyond tournament theory explanations to show that pay disparities within top management groups arise as a function of the distribution of power within them. Based on a sample of 604 publicly-traded firms drawn from the S&P 1500, a theoretical model linking sociopolitical factors in the top management group and top management group pay disparities was tested using hierarchical ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The results indicate that CEO power plays an important role in the distribution of compensation within top management groups.

Suggested Citation

  • Patrick McClelland & Tor Brodtkorb, "undated". "Who Gets the Lion’s Share? Top Management Group Pay Disparities and Powerful CEOs," Management Working Papers 04-04/2013, School of Business Administration, American University of Sharjah.
    • Handle: RePEc:sha:mgtwps:04-04/2013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://dspace.aus.edu:8443/xmlui/bitstream/handle/11073/5878/WPS_McClelland-Brodtkorb.pdf?sequence=1
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. 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.
    2. Stulz, ReneM., 1988. "Managerial control of voting rights : Financing policies and the market for corporate control," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 25-54, January.
    3. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    4. L. Wade, 1988. "Review," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 99-100, July.
    5. Jonathan S. Leonard, 1990. "Executive Pay and Firm Performance," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 43(3), pages 13, April.
    6. Green, Jerry R & Stokey, Nancy L, 1983. "A Comparison of Tournaments and Contracts," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 91(3), pages 349-364, June.
    7. Eriksson, Tor, 1999. "Executive Compensation and Tournament Theory: Empirical Tests on Danish Data," Journal of Labor Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 17(2), pages 262-280, April.
    8. 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.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Sydney Finkelstein & Donald C. Hambrick, 1989. "Chief executive compensation: A study of the intersection of markets and political processes," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(2), pages 121-134, March.
    12. 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.
    13. 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.
    14. Paula L. Rechner & Dan R. Dalton, 1991. "CEO duality and organizational performance: A longitudinal analysis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 155-160, February.
    15. 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.
    16. 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.
    17. Catherine M. Daily & Dan R. Dalton, 1994. "Corporate governance and the bankrupt firm: An empirical assessment," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(8), pages 643-654, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Sun, Sophia Li & Habib, Ahsan, 2020. "Determinants and consequences of tournament incentives: A survey of the literature in accounting and finance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    2. 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.).
    3. Sun, Sophia Li & Habib, Ahsan & Huang, Hedy Jiaying, 2019. "Tournament incentives and stock price crash risk: Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 93-117.
    4. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, December.
    5. 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.
    6. James W. Bannister & Harry A. Newman & Emma Y. Peng, 2020. "Top management tournament incentives and credit ratings," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 769-801, August.
    7. Grund, Christian & Walter, Tanja, 2013. "Management Compensation and the Economic Crisis: Longitudinal Evidence from the German Chemical Sector," IZA Discussion Papers 7435, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Sharma, Vineeta, 2011. "Independent directors and the propensity to pay dividends," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 17(4), pages 1001-1015, September.
    9. Hu, Fang & Pan, Xiaofei & Tian, Gary, 2013. "Does CEO pay dispersion matter in an emerging market? Evidence from China's listed firms," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 235-255.
    10. Blank, D. Brian, 2019. "Executive Incentives, Import Restrictions, and Competition: Empirical Analysis of Antidumping and Countervailing Duty Orders," Working Papers 09889, George Mason University, Mercatus Center.
    11. 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.
    12. Christian Grund & Niels Westergaard-Nielsen, 2008. "The Dispersion of Employees' Wage Increases and Firm Performance," ILR Review, Cornell University, ILR School, vol. 61(4), pages 485-501, July.
    13. Peter Jaskiewicz & Joern H. Block & James G. Combs & Danny Miller, 2017. "The Effects of Founder and Family Ownership on Hired CEOs’ Incentives and Firm Performance," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(1), pages 73-103, January.
    14. Ian Gregory-Smith & Peter W Wright, 2019. "Winners and losers of corporate tournaments," Oxford Economic Papers, Oxford University Press, vol. 71(1), pages 250-268.
    15. Renneboog, L.D.R. & Trojanowski, G., 2002. "The Managerial Labor Market and the Governance Role of Shareholder Control Structures in the UK," Discussion Paper 2002-68, Tilburg University, Center for Economic Research.
    16. Mike Burkart & Samuel Lee, 2008. "One Share - One Vote: the Theory," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 12(1), pages 1-49.
    17. Swarnodeep HomRoy, 2016. "Was Adam Smith Right? Evidence of Compensating Differential in CEO Pay," Manchester School, University of Manchester, vol. 84(1), pages 1-24, January.
    18. Fernandes, Nuno, 2008. "EC: Board compensation and firm performance: The role of "independent" board members," Journal of Multinational Financial Management, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 30-44, February.
    19. Dinara Alpysbayeva & Jozef Konings & Venkat Subramanian & Aigerim Yergabulova, 2022. "Wage dispersion and firm performance: evidence from Kazakhstan," Working Papers 2022/01, Nazarbayev University, Graduate School of Business.
    20. Chaur-Shiuh Young & Liu-Ching Tsai & Pei-Gin Hsieh, 2008. "Voluntary Appointment of Independent Directors in Taiwan: Motives and Consequences," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(9-10), pages 1103-1137.

    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:sha:mgtwps:04-04/2013. 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: Hamza Saleem (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/deausae.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.