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Corporate stakeholders and CEO-worker pay gap: evidence from CEO pay ratio disclosure

Author

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  • Mei Cheng

    (Eller College of Management, The University of Arizona)

  • Yuan Zhang

    (The University of Texas at Dallas)

Abstract

Based on the recent SEC-mandated disclosures of CEO-worker pay ratios, we find that firms significantly decrease (increase) their CEO-worker pay ratios when their prior pay ratios are high (low) relative to peers. More importantly, the decrease in pay ratio among high pay ratio firms is significantly more pronounced with stronger stakeholder influences, proxied by employees with greater bargaining power, communities with higher social capital, and states with more stringent minimum wage legislation. These results are robust to controlling for CEO and median worker pay benchmarking as well as the influences of shareholders. Using state-level pay ratio tax proposals as another proxy for stakeholder influence, we find high pay ratio firms in states with these proposals reduce pay ratios significantly more than firms with similar high pay ratios in other states. Overall, our results highlight the influence of corporate stakeholders in mitigating high CEO-worker pay gap.

Suggested Citation

  • Mei Cheng & Yuan Zhang, 2024. "Corporate stakeholders and CEO-worker pay gap: evidence from CEO pay ratio disclosure," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 29(4), pages 3713-3751, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:reaccs:v:29:y:2024:i:4:d:10.1007_s11142-023-09803-7
    DOI: 10.1007/s11142-023-09803-7
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    CEO-worker pay gap; Pay ratio; Stakeholders; Employees; Communities; Governments;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G38 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • J38 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Public Policy
    • J58 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Labor-Management Relations, Trade Unions, and Collective Bargaining - - - Public Policy
    • M12 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Business Administration - - - Personnel Management; Executives; Executive Compensation
    • M5 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Personnel Economics

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