Executive pay is a major issue in the corporate governance debate. As well in practice as in theory debate still exists how executive pay levels and structures can be explained. This paper provides an overview of 16 theories that have been used in the literature to explain the phenomenon. The theories can be classified into three types of approaches; 1) the value approach; 2) the agency approach; and 3) the symbolic approach. A critical assessment of the theories shows that the dominant use in the literature of the perfect contracting approach of agency theory neglects: 1) the socially determined symbolic value that executive pay could represent, and 2) the contextual conditions under which executive pay is set. A more conclusive understanding of executive pay would be based on considering executive pay as an outcome of socially constructed corporate governance arrangements in which the actors involved have considerable discretion to influence the outcomes. Incorporating such a view in attempts to explain executive pay provides a more conclusive explanation of the recurrent debate on executive pay in theory and practice.
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Paper provided by University Library of Munich, Germany in its series MPRA Paper with number
6969.
Find related papers by JEL classification: M0 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - General F0 - International Economics - - General M1 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Business Administration M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting - - Personnel Economics G3 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance B00 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - General - - - General
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