IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/empfin/v62y2021icp121-140.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Executive compensation and aspirational peer benchmarking

Author

Listed:
  • Schneider, Thomas Ian

Abstract

Using novel data on explicit compensation benchmarking peer groups, I document that small public firms engage in upward compensation benchmarking to a much greater extent than larger firms. Small firms choose aspirational peers that reflect their executives’ shifting opportunity sets. For these firms, compensation benchmarking is indicative of future growth and performance, and the rate at which pay adjusts toward peer levels is sensitive to executives’ outside employment opportunities. Growing and outperforming small firms strategically use upward benchmarking to adjust pay in an effort to retain valuable managerial talent.

Suggested Citation

  • Schneider, Thomas Ian, 2021. "Executive compensation and aspirational peer benchmarking," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 121-140.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:62:y:2021:i:c:p:121-140
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jempfin.2021.03.002
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0927539821000219
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.jempfin.2021.03.002?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Albuquerque, Ana M. & De Franco, Gus & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2013. "Peer choice in CEO compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 160-181.
    2. Michael Faulkender & Jun Yang, 2013. "Is Disclosure an Effective Cleansing Mechanism? The Dynamics of Compensation Peer Benchmarking," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 26(3), pages 806-839.
    3. Paul Gompers & Joy Ishii & Andrew Metrick, 2003. "Corporate Governance and Equity Prices," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 118(1), pages 107-156.
    4. Bengt Holmstrom, 1982. "Moral Hazard in Teams," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 13(2), pages 324-340, Autumn.
    5. Larcker, David F. & McClure, Charles & Zhu, Christina, 2019. "Peer Group Choice and Chief Executive Officer Compensation," Research Papers 3767, Stanford University, Graduate School of Business.
    6. Bizjak, John M. & Lemmon, Michael L. & Naveen, Lalitha, 2008. "Does the use of peer groups contribute to higher pay and less efficient compensation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 90(2), pages 152-168, November.
    7. Custódio, Cláudia & Ferreira, Miguel A. & Matos, Pedro, 2013. "Generalists versus specialists: Lifetime work experience and chief executive officer pay," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(2), pages 471-492.
    8. Faulkender, Michael & Yang, Jun, 2010. "Inside the black box: The role and composition of compensation peer groups," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 96(2), pages 257-270, May.
    9. C. Edward Fee, 2003. "Raids, Rewards, and Reputations in the Market for Managerial Talent," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 16(4), pages 1315-1357.
    10. Parrino, Robert, 1997. "CEO turnover and outside succession A cross-sectional analysis," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 46(2), pages 165-197, November.
    11. Albuquerque, Ana, 2009. "Peer firms in relative performance evaluation," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(1), pages 69-89, October.
    12. Bizjak, John & Lemmon, Michael & Nguyen, Thanh, 2011. "Are all CEOs above average? An empirical analysis of compensation peer groups and pay design," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 100(3), pages 538-555, June.
    13. Huson, Mark R. & Malatesta, Paul H. & Parrino, Robert, 2004. "Managerial succession and firm performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2), pages 237-275, November.
    14. Jensen, Michael C & Murphy, Kevin J, 1990. "Performance Pay and Top-Management Incentives," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(2), pages 225-264, April.
    15. Giroud, Xavier & Mueller, Holger M., 2010. "Does corporate governance matter in competitive industries?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(3), pages 312-331, March.
    16. Garvey, Gerald T. & Milbourn, Todd T., 2006. "Asymmetric benchmarking in compensation: Executives are rewarded for good luck but not penalized for bad," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 82(1), pages 197-225, October.
    17. Lucian Bebchuk & Alma Cohen & Allen Ferrell, 2009. "What Matters in Corporate Governance?," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 22(2), pages 783-827, February.
    18. Fama, Eugene F. & French, Kenneth R., 1993. "Common risk factors in the returns on stocks and bonds," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 33(1), pages 3-56, February.
    19. Gao, Huasheng & Luo, Juan & Tang, Tilan, 2015. "Effects of managerial labor market on executive compensation: Evidence from job-hopping," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 203-220.
    20. K. J. Martijn Cremers & Yaniv Grinstein, 2014. "Does the Market for CEO Talent Explain Controversial CEO Pay Practices?," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 18(3), pages 921-960.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Na, Ke, 2020. "CEOs’ outside opportunities and relative performance evaluation: evidence from a natural experiment," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(3), pages 679-700.
    2. Tor‐Erik Bakke & Hamed Mahmudi & Ashley Newton, 2020. "Performance peer groups in CEO compensation contracts," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 49(4), pages 997-1027, December.
    3. Liu, Cai & Yin, Chao, 2023. "Institutional investors’ monitoring attention, CEO compensation, and relative performance evaluation," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 56(C).
    4. Francis, Bill & Hasan, Iftekhar & Mani, Sureshbabu & Ye, Pengfei, 2016. "Relative peer quality and firm performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(1), pages 196-219.
    5. Albuquerque, Ana M. & De Franco, Gus & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2013. "Peer choice in CEO compensation," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 108(1), pages 160-181.
    6. Kubick, Thomas R. & Lockhart, G. Brandon, 2016. "Do external labor market incentives motivate CEOs to adopt more aggressive corporate tax reporting preferences?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 255-277.
    7. Michel Magnan & Dominic Martin, 2019. "Executive Compensation and Employee Remuneration: The Flexible Principles of Justice in Pay," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 160(1), pages 89-105, November.
    8. Bick, Patty & Flugum, Ryan, 2022. "Money isn't everything: Compensation of locally educated executives," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    9. repec:zbw:bofrdp:2016_006 is not listed on IDEAS
    10. Shi, Lina & Gong, Stephen & Wang, Xingang, 2021. "Social network, corporate governance, and rent extraction in CEO compensation: Evidence from spatial econometric models," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(4).
    11. Francis, Bill & Hasan, Iftekhar & Mani, Sureshbabu & Ye, Pengfei, 2016. "Relative peer quality and firm performance," Bank of Finland Research Discussion Papers 6/2016, Bank of Finland.
    12. Yanrong Jia & Ananth Seetharaman & Yan Sun & Xu Wang, 2023. "Relative Performance Goals and Management Earnings Guidance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 183(4), pages 1045-1071, April.
    13. Mathijs de Vaan & Benjamin Elbers & Thomas A. DiPrete, 2019. "Obscured Transparency? Compensation Benchmarking and the Biasing of Executive Pay," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 65(9), pages 4299-4317, September.
    14. Sheng Guo & Qiang Kang & Oscar A. Mitnik, 2022. "Dynamics of managerial power and CEO compensation in the course of corporate distress: Evidence from 1992 to 2019," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 51(3), pages 797-825, September.
    15. Hsu, Yuan-Teng & Huang, Chia-Wei & Koedijk, Kees G., 2023. "Unintended consequences of compensation peer groups on corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    16. Peng, Qiyuan & Yin, Sirui, 2021. "Does the executive labor market discipline? Labor market incentives and earnings management," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 62-86.
    17. Ormazabal, Gaizka & Jochem, Torsten & Rajamani, Anjana, 2020. "Why Have CEO Pay Levels Become Less Diverse?," CEPR Discussion Papers 15523, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    18. Markus Broman & Debarshi K. Nandy & Yisong S. Tian, 2023. "Industry co-agglomeration, executive mobility and compensation," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 61(3), pages 817-854, October.
    19. Kim, So Yeon & Lee, Kang Ryun & Shin, Hyun-Han, 2017. "The enhanced disclosure of executive compensation in Korea," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 72-83.
    20. Gipper, Brandon, 2021. "The economic effects of expanded compensation disclosures," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 71(1).
    21. Campbell, T. Colin & Thompson, Mary Elizabeth, 2015. "Why are CEOs paid for good luck? An empirical comparison of explanations for pay-for-luck asymmetry," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 35(C), pages 247-264.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:empfin:v:62:y:2021:i:c:p:121-140. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/jempfin .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.