Numerous scandals over the past 10-20 years, and last but not least the financial crisis, have raised public interest in and the demand for stricter regulation of executive pay in general and compensation packages for departing directors in particular (so-called 'golden parachutes' or 'golden...

We investigate the impact of social networks on earnings using a dataset of over 20,000 senior executives of European and US firms. The size of an individual's network of influential former colleagues has a large positive association with current remuneration. An individual at the 75th...