Impact of Legal Protection and Board Characteristics on CEO Compensation

This study explores the impact of legal protection level and board characteristics on the structure and the pay-performance sensitivity of CEO compensation. To reach the declared goals this paper is supported by Mann-Whitney test. Data from 12 European countries for the 2016 to 2018 period reveals a significant impact of the legal protection level, CEO duality, board size, board independence and the presence of efficient compensation committee have a significant impact on the structure of CEO compensation but not on the pay-performance sensitivity of CEO compensation. In addition, the results show that the presence of women on board of directors has a positive impact on CEOs compensation. Present study contributes to literature in the fields of gender study and corporate governance of the firms. Also, present research has several managerial implications, highlighting the impact of legal protection and board characteristics on CEO compensation