I develop measures of firm-level pay disparity and examine their relation to firm performance. Using comprehensive compensation data for a large sample of firms, I find no statistically significant relation between the ratio of CEO-to-mean employee compensation and performance. I next create...

CEO compensation is increasingly being linked to ESG outcomes. In this paper, we provide evidence that ESG targets in CEO pay reflect stakeholder welfare. Using granular information on contract design from Swedish firms, we show that ESG-linked contracts are more likely for CEOs with broader...

Using a sample of U.S. S&P 1500 firms from 2007-2009, we provide new evidence showing that CEOs of firms engaging BIG6 consultants receive lower equity payments and lower total compensations compared to that of firms engaging SMALL consultants. In addition, we also find that a switch in a firm's...

Critics allege that executive compensation consultants face potential conflicts of interest (lack of independence) that might lead to higher CEO pay. Conflicts of interest include the desires to "cross-sell" service and to secure "repeat business". Using a unique data set of compensation...

This paper, which was first presented as a conference paper at the Annual 2009 Supreme Court of New South Wales Conference in June 2009, considers the impact of the global financial crisis on the regulation of executive pay in a range of common law jurisdictions, including the United States, the...