We show that pay is higher for CEOs with general managerial skills gathered during lifetime work experience. We use CEOs' résumés of S&P 1,500 firms from 1993 through 2007 to construct an index of general skills that are transferable across firms and industries. We estimate an annual pay...

We show that long-term compensation is associated with higher pay in the financial industry and the legal sector. Then, using a detailed survey of law school graduates, we explore why firms use long-term compensation. We find that individuals with jobs that make them highly visible and that...

We construct a new index of CEO general managerial skill using the industry composition of the CEO compensation peer group and use it to examine the relation between CEO general skill and CEO pay. Our index has the advantage of capturing the board's perception of CEO general skill and is less...

We show that pay is higher for CEOs with general managerial skills gathered during lifetime work experience. We use CEOs' résumés of S&P 1,500 firms from 1993 through 2007 to construct an index of general skills that are transferable across firms and industries. We estimate an annual pay...