Executive Compensation In Contemporary Corporate Governance

In late 2004, law professors Lucian Bebchuk and Jesse Fried released a controversial new work, Pay without Performance: The Unfulfilled Promise of Executive Compensation. In Pay without Performance, Bebchuk and Fried highlight that in recent times there has been a decoupling of pay and performance in the United States, and articulate a quot;managerial powerquot; thesis to explain this trend. In this article, the author outlines the case for why pay for performance is not an quot;unfulfilledquot; promise, but rather is no promise at all. The author argues that agency theory, and pay for performance which is based upon agency theory, derives from a narrow, and ultimately false understanding of human motivation and behaviour. Drawing on an extensive range of literature in psychology, management and workplace relations, behavioural law and economics, sociology, philosophy and law, the author explains why the view of agency theorists regarding the importance of remuneration is misguided.

Executive Compensation Best Practices demystifies the topic of executive compensation, with a hands-on guide providing comprehensive compensation guidance for all members of the board. Essential reading for board members, CEOs, and senior human resources leaders from companies of every size, this book is the most authoritative reference on executive compensation.

The company is under-performing, its share price is trailing, and the CEO gets...a multi-million-dollar raise. This story is familiar, for good reason: as this book clearly demonstrates, structural flaws in corporate governance have produced widespread distortions in executive pay. Pay without Performance presents a disconcerting portrait of managers' influence over their own pay--and of a governance system that must fundamentally change if firms are to be managed in the interest of shareholders. Lucian Bebchuk and Jesse Fried demonstrate that corporate boards have persistently failed to negotiate at arm's length with the executives they are meant to oversee. They give a richly detailed account of how pay practices--from option plans to retirement benefits--have decoupled compensation from performance and have camouflaged both the amount and performance-insensitivity of pay. Executives' unwonted influence over their compensation has hurt shareholders by increasing pay levels and, even more importantly, by leading to practices that dilute and distort managers' incentives. This book identifies basic problems with our current reliance on boards as guardians of shareholder interests. And the solution, the authors argue, is not merely to make these boards more independent of executives as recent reforms attempt to do. Rather, boards should also be made more dependent on shareholders by eliminating the arrangements that entrench directors and insulate them from their shareholders. A powerful critique of executive compensation and corporate governance, Pay without Performance points the way to restoring corporate integrity and improving corporate performance.

The company is under-performing, its share price is trailing, and the CEO gets...a multi-million-dollar raise. This story is familiar, for good reason: as this book clearly demonstrates, structural flaws in corporate governance have produced widespread distortions in executive pay. Pay without Performance presents a disconcerting portrait of managers' influence over their own pay--and of a governance system that must fundamentally change if firms are to be managed in the interest of shareholders. Lucian Bebchuk and Jesse Fried demonstrate that corporate boards have persistently failed to negotiate at arm's length with the executives they are meant to oversee. They give a richly detailed account of how pay practices--from option plans to retirement benefits--have decoupled compensation from performance and have camouflaged both the amount and performance-insensitivity of pay. Executives' unwonted influence over their compensation has hurt shareholders by increasing pay levels and, even more importantly, by leading to practices that dilute and distort managers' incentives. This book identifies basic problems with our current reliance on boards as guardians of shareholder interests. And the solution, the authors argue, is not merely to make these boards more independent of executives as recent reforms attempt to do. Rather, boards should also be made more dependent on shareholders by eliminating the arrangements that entrench directors and insulate them from their shareholders. A powerful critique of executive compensation and corporate governance, Pay without Performance points the way to restoring corporate integrity and improving corporate performance.

A definitive road map to help companies assess and refine their executive reward strategies. Responsible pay has become inextricably linked with corporate governance and long-term shareholder value creation. Responsible Executive Compensation for a New Era of Accountability shows you how to revamp your executive compensation programs to drive shareholder value creation while adhering to the high standards of the new corporate governance environment. Packed with case studies, diagnostics, and contributions from world-renowned experts in executive compensation, this vital resource offers a comprehensive overview of the critical issues affecting executive compensation practice and theory during this new era. Order your copy today!

Drawing from nine of the leading compensation advisory firms in the country, Executive Compensation: The Professional's Guide to Current Issues and Practices is the first publication to bring together a number of the top practitioners and experts in the field to provide the information and insights needed to navigate within the new era of accountability and performance standards.

Analyzes executive compensation in a setting where managers may take a costly action to manipulate corporate performance, and whether managers do so is stochastic. Examines how the opportunity to manipulate affects the optimal pay contract, and establishes necessary and sufficient conditions under which earnings management occurs. The author¿s model provides a set of implications on the role earnings management plays in driving the time-series and cross-sectional variation of executive compensation. In addition, the model's predictions regarding the changes of earnings management and executive pay in response to corporate governance legislation are consistent with empirical observations. Charts and tables.

The Handbook of the Economics of Corporate Governance, Volume One, covers all issues important to economists. It is organized around fundamental principles, whereas multidisciplinary books on corporate governance often concentrate on specific topics. Specific topics include Relevant Theory and Methods, Organizational Economic Models as They Pertain to Governance, Managerial Career Concerns, Assessment & Monitoring, and Signal Jamming, The Institutions and Practice of Governance, The Law and Economics of Governance, Takeovers, Buyouts, and the Market for Control, Executive Compensation, Dominant Shareholders, and more. Providing excellent overviews and summaries of extant research, this book presents advanced students in graduate programs with details and perspectives that other books overlook. Concentrates on underlying principles that change little, even as the empirical literature moves on Helps readers see corporate governance systems as interrelated or even intertwined external (country-level) and internal (firm-level) forces Reviews the methodological tools of the field (theory and empirical), the most relevant models, and the field’s substantive findings, all of which help point the way forward

Research on executive compensation has exploded in recent years, and this volume of specially commissioned essays brings the reader up-to-date on all of the latest developments in the field. Leading corporate governance scholars from a range of countries set out their views on four main areas of executive compensation: the history and theory of executive compensation, the structure of executive pay, corporate governance and executive compensation, and international perspectives on executive pay. The authors analyze the two dominant theoretical approaches – managerial power theory and optimal contracting theory – and examine their impact on executive pay levels and the practices of concentrated and dispersed share ownership in corporations. The effectiveness of government regulation of executive pay and international executive pay practices in Australia, the US, Europe, China, India and Japan are also discussed. A timely study of a controversial topic, the Handbook will be an essential resource for students, scholars and practitioners of law, finance, business and accounting.

NEW AND UPDATED INFORMATION ON THE LAWS AND REGULATIONS AFFECTING EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION Now in a thoroughly updated Third Edition, Compensation Committee Handbook provides a comprehensive review of the complex issues facing compensation committees in the wake of Sarbanes-Oxley. This new and updated edition addresses a full range of functional issues facing compensation committees, including organizing, planning, and best practices tips. As the responsibilities of the compensation committee continue to increase, the need for practical and comprehensive material has become even more imperative. Complete with compliance advice on the latest rules and regulations that have developed since the publication of the last edition, Compensation Committee Handbook, Third Edition provides the most up-to-date and reliable information on: * The latest regulations impacting executive compensation, including new regulations issued by the SEC, recently revised GAAP accounting rules, and the just-finalized IRS regulations impacting the taxation of stock options * The roles and responsibilities of the compensation committee, including best practice tips and techniques * Selecting and training compensation committee members * How to make compensation committees a performance driver for a company * Practical applications, including incentive compensation and equity-based compensation Compensation Committee Handbook, Third Edition will help all compensation committee members and interested professionals succeed in melding highly complex technical information and concepts with both corporate governance principles and sound business judgment.