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Executive Remuneration in the EU: The Context for Reform

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  • Guido Ferrarini

Abstract

This paper shows how clear divergences arise across the EU in how executive remuneration is structured. Sharp differences also occur in the adoption of best practices in pay-setting and in the disclosure of executive pay. These divergences are broadly in line, as agency theory predicts, with blockholding and dispersed-ownership governance profiles. While the EU has recently adopted two important 2004 recommendations on executive pay, the paper argues that EU-led reforms should be undertaken with care. Harmonization should be limited and only address disclosure. Disclosure is central to the adoption of effective incentive contracts in that it can manage the particular agency costs of executive pay, across dispersed and blockholding systems, without intervening in governance choices and structures. Any other interventions in the pay process carry the risk of distorting competition and interfering with the dynamics of different ownership structures and economic contexts. Copyright 2005, Oxford University Press.

Suggested Citation

  • Guido Ferrarini, 2005. "Executive Remuneration in the EU: The Context for Reform," Oxford Review of Economic Policy, Oxford University Press and Oxford Review of Economic Policy Limited, vol. 21(2), pages 304-323, Summer.
    • Handle: RePEc:oup:oxford:v:21:y:2005:i:2:p:304-323
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    Cited by:

    1. Riaz, Zahid & Ray, Pradeep & Ray, Sangeeta, 2022. "The impact of digitalisation on corporate governance in Australia," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 410-424.
    2. Emmanuel Iatridis, George, 2018. "Accounting discretion and executive cash compensation: An empirical investigation of corporate governance, credit ratings and firm value," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 29-49.
    3. Brian G. M. Main & Calvin Jackson & John Pymm & Vicky Wright, 2008. "The Remuneration Committee and Strategic Human Resource Management," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(3), pages 225-238, May.
    4. Roberto Barontini & Stefano Bozzi & Guido Ferrarini, 2017. "Executive remuneration standards and the “conformity gap” at controlled corporations," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 21(3), pages 573-597, September.
    5. Dragan Ilić & Sonja Pisarov & Peter S. Schmidt, 2015. "Preaching water but drinking wine? Relative performance evaluation in international banking," ECON - Working Papers 208, Department of Economics - University of Zurich, revised Aug 2016.
    6. Dragan Ilić & Sonja Pisarov & Peter S. Schmidt, 2019. "Preaching water but drinking wine? Relative performance evaluation in international banking," Swiss Journal of Economics and Statistics, Springer;Swiss Society of Economics and Statistics, vol. 155(1), pages 1-25, December.
    7. Hien Thi Thuc Nguyen & Subhan Ullah & Hanh Thi My Le & Affan Hameed, 2023. "Sustainability Targets in Executive Remuneration Contracts and Corporate Sustainability Performance in the United Kingdom and European Union," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 393-415, September.
    8. Jodie Nelson & Gerry Gallery & Majella Percy, 2010. "Role of corporate governance in mitigating the selective disclosure of executive stock option information," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 50(3), pages 685-717, September.
    9. Ili, Dragan & Pisarov, Sonja & Schmidt, Peter S., 2015. "Preaching Water But Drinking Wine? Relative Performance Evaluation in International Banking," Working papers 2015/10, Faculty of Business and Economics - University of Basel.

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