IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/ijfiec/v31y2026i1p129-150.html

The Impact of Say‐On‐Pay on Firm Efficiency in Anglo‐Saxon Economies—Do CEO Personal Traits and CG Mechanisms Matter?

Author

Listed:
  • Essam Joura
  • Ali Meftah Gerged
  • Qin Xiao
  • Subhan Ullah

Abstract

In this study, we explore how the personal traits of CEOs and corporate governance mechanisms moderate the link between say‐on‐pay (SOP) votes and various aspects of firm efficiency. Our sample consists of 1931 firms listed in four Anglo‐Saxon economies (i.e., USA, UK, Canada and Australia) during a period of notable regulatory changes. Our findings reveal a significant and positive impact of SOP votes on firm efficiency. This suggests that company executives recognise that lower efficiency leads to lower pay or even job loss. Interestingly, our analysis indicates that younger managers can contribute more to creating value and improving business performance compared with their older counterparts. However, the relationship between gender and firm efficiency remains inconclusive. Furthermore, our study highlights the limited involvement of the board of directors in driving firm efficiency. This could be attributed to inadequate monitoring, cooperation and communication among board members, particularly in the case of audit committees, which seem to have less skilled members. Alternatively, this lack of board engagement may be due to the influence of powerful managers within the company. This paper also offers practical implications to policymakers and practitioners and suggests avenues for future research that can build upon our evidence.

Suggested Citation

  • Essam Joura & Ali Meftah Gerged & Qin Xiao & Subhan Ullah, 2026. "The Impact of Say‐On‐Pay on Firm Efficiency in Anglo‐Saxon Economies—Do CEO Personal Traits and CG Mechanisms Matter?," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(1), pages 129-150, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:ijfiec:v:31:y:2026:i:1:p:129-150
    DOI: 10.1002/ijfe.3131
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/ijfe.3131
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/ijfe.3131?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
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Hanousek, Jan & Shamshur, Anastasiya & Tresl, Jiri, 2019. "Firm efficiency, foreign ownership and CEO gender in corrupt environments," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 344-360.
    2. Vicente Cuñat & Mireia Giné & Maria Guadalupe, 2016. "Say Pays! Shareholder Voice and Firm Performance," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 20(5), pages 1799-1834.
    3. Bebchuk, Lucian Arye & Fried, Jesse & Walker, David I, 2002. "Managerial Power and Rent Extraction in the Design of Executive Compensation," CEPR Discussion Papers 3558, Centre for Economic Policy Research.
    4. Andres, Pablo de & Vallelado, Eleuterio, 2008. "Corporate governance in banking: The role of the board of directors," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 32(12), pages 2570-2580, December.
    5. Cai, Jie & Walkling, Ralph A., 2011. "Shareholders’ Say on Pay: Does It Create Value?," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 46(2), pages 299-339, April.
    6. Adams, Renée B. & Mehran, Hamid, 2012. "Bank board structure and performance: Evidence for large bank holding companies," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 21(2), pages 243-267.
    7. Bennouri, Moez & Chtioui, Tawhid & Nagati, Haithem & Nekhili, Mehdi, 2018. "Female board directorship and firm performance: What really matters?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 267-291.
    8. Alexei SIRBU, 2012. "Economic Value Added (EVA) Approach in Russia. Concepts. Approaches. Instruments," REVISTA DE MANAGEMENT COMPARAT INTERNATIONAL/REVIEW OF INTERNATIONAL COMPARATIVE MANAGEMENT, Faculty of Management, Academy of Economic Studies, Bucharest, Romania, vol. 13(2), pages 305-312, May.
    9. Cullinan, Charles P. & Mahoney, Lois & Roush, Pamela B., 2017. "Are CSR activities associated with shareholder voting in director elections and say-on-pay votes?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 225-243.
    10. Correa, Ricardo & Lel, Ugur, 2016. "Say on pay laws, executive compensation, pay slice, and firm valuation around the world," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 500-520.
    11. Walid Alissa, 2015. "Boards' Response to Shareholders' Dissatisfaction: The Case of Shareholders' Say on Pay in the UK," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(4), pages 727-752, December.
    12. Isakov, Dušan & Weisskopf, Jean-Philippe, 2014. "Are founding families special blockholders? An investigation of controlling shareholder influence on firm performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 1-16.
    13. Bai, Chong-En & Liu, Qiao & Lu, Joe & Song, Frank M. & Zhang, Junxi, 2004. "Corporate governance and market valuation in China," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 599-616, December.
    14. Essam Joura & Qin Xiao & Subhan Ullah, 2023. "The moderating effects of CEO power and personal traits on say‐on‐pay effectiveness: Insights from the Anglo‐Saxon economies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 4055-4078, October.
    15. Liang, Qi & Xu, Pisun & Jiraporn, Pornsit, 2013. "Board characteristics and Chinese bank performance," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(8), pages 2953-2968.
    16. repec:hal:journl:hal-02312104 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Erkens, David H. & Hung, Mingyi & Matos, Pedro, 2012. "Corporate governance in the 2007–2008 financial crisis: Evidence from financial institutions worldwide," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(2), pages 389-411.
    18. Badolato, Patrick G. & Donelson, Dain C. & Ege, Matthew, 2014. "Audit committee financial expertise and earnings management: The role of status," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 208-230.
    19. Jensen, Michael C, 1986. "Agency Costs of Free Cash Flow, Corporate Finance, and Takeovers," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 76(2), pages 323-329, May.
    20. Ammann, Manuel & Oesch, David & Schmid, Markus M., 2011. "Corporate governance and firm value: International evidence," Journal of Empirical Finance, Elsevier, vol. 18(1), pages 36-55, January.
    21. Martin J. Conyon, 2014. "Executive Compensation and Board Governance in US Firms," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 124(574), pages 60-89, February.
    22. Lucian Arye Bebchuk & Jesse M. Fried, 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(3), pages 71-92, Summer.
    23. Cheng, Shijun, 2008. "Board size and the variability of corporate performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 87(1), pages 157-176, January.
    24. Pathan, Shams & Faff, Robert, 2013. "Does board structure in banks really affect their performance?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 37(5), pages 1573-1589.
    25. Liu, Yu & Wei, Zuobao & Xie, Feixue, 2014. "Do women directors improve firm performance in China?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 28(C), pages 169-184.
    26. Alex Edmans & Xavier Gabaix, 2016. "Executive Compensation: A Modern Primer," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 54(4), pages 1232-1287, December.
    27. Roszaini Haniffa & Mohammad Hudaib, 2006. "Corporate Governance Structure and Performance of Malaysian Listed Companies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(7-8), pages 1034-1062.
    28. Akashi, Kentaro & Kunitomo, Naoto, 2012. "Some properties of the LIML estimator in a dynamic panel structural equation," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 166(2), pages 167-183.
    29. Chen, Sheng-Syan & Chen, I-Ju, 2012. "Corporate governance and capital allocations of diversified firms," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(2), pages 395-409.
    30. Moez Bennouri & Anastasia Cozarenco & Samuel Anokye Nyarko, 2024. "Women on Boards and Performance Trade-offs in Social Enterprises: Insights from Microfinance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 190(1), pages 165-198, February.
    31. Roszaini Haniffa & Mohammad Hudaib, 2006. "Corporate Governance Structure and Performance of Malaysian Listed Companies," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(7‐8), pages 1034-1062, September.
    32. Custódio, Cláudia & Metzger, Daniel, 2014. "Financial expert CEOs: CEO׳s work experience and firm׳s financial policies," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(1), pages 125-154.
    33. Guilhem Bascle, 2008. "Controlling for endogeneity with instrumental variables in strategic management research," Post-Print hal-00576795, HAL.
    34. Ying‐Chan Tang & Fen‐May Liou, 2010. "Does firm performance reveal its own causes? the role of Bayesian inference," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 39-57, January.
    35. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Fried, Jesse M., 2003. "Executive Compensation as an Agency Problem," Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics, Working Paper Series qt81q3136r, Berkeley Olin Program in Law & Economics.
    36. Darren Henry, 2008. "Corporate Governance Structure and the Valuation of Australian Firms: Is There Value in Ticking the Boxes?," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(7‐8), pages 912-942, September.
    37. Diane K Denis & Torsten Jochem & Anjana Rajamani & Wei Jiang, 2020. "Shareholder Governance and CEO Compensation: The Peer Effects of Say on Pay," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(7), pages 3130-3173.
    38. Hubbard, R. Glenn & Palia, Darius, 1995. "Executive pay and performance Evidence from the U.S. banking industry," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(1), pages 105-130, September.
    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. Essam Joura & Qin Xiao & Subhan Ullah, 2023. "The moderating effects of CEO power and personal traits on say‐on‐pay effectiveness: Insights from the Anglo‐Saxon economies," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 4055-4078, October.
    2. Emmanuel Mamatzakis & Theodora Bermpei, 2015. "The Effect of Corporate Governance on the Performance of US Investment Banks," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 24(2-3), pages 191-239, May.
    3. Joura, Essam & Xiao, Qin & Ullah, Subhan, 2021. "The impact of Say-on-Pay votes on firms' strategic policies: Insights from the Anglo-Saxon economy," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    4. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, March.
    5. Cardillo, Giovanni & Onali, Enrico & Torluccio, Giuseppe, 2021. "Does gender diversity on banks' boards matter? Evidence from public bailouts," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 71(C).
    6. Dutta, Shantanu & Officer, Micah S. & Wang, Ruixiang & Zhu, Pengcheng, 2025. "Do “say-on-pay” votes affect M&A decisions?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    7. Dong, Yizhe & Girardone, Claudia & Kuo, Jing-Ming, 2017. "Governance, efficiency and risk taking in Chinese banking," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(2), pages 211-229.
    8. Elnahass, Marwa & Salama, Aly & Trinh, Vu Quang, 2022. "Firm valuations and board compensation: Evidence from alternative banking models," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 51(C).
    9. Pamela Kent & Kim Kercher & James Routledge, 2018. "Remuneration committees, shareholder dissent on CEO pay and the CEO pay–performance link," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 58(2), pages 445-475, June.
    10. Tasawar Nawaz & Roszaini Haniffa & Mohammad Hudaib, 2021. "On intellectual capital efficiency and shariah governance in Islamic banking business model," International Journal of Finance & Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(3), pages 3770-3787, July.
    11. Canil, Jean & Karpavičius, Sigitas, 2020. "Compensation consultants: Does reputation matter?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Issal Haj-Salem & Salma Damak Ayadi & Khaled Hussainey, 2020. "The joint effect of corporate risk disclosure and corporate governance on firm value," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 17(2), pages 123-140, September.
    13. Ricardo Correa & Ugur Lel, 2013. "Say on pay laws, executive compensation, CEO pay slice, and firm value around the world," International Finance Discussion Papers 1084, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    14. Ghosh, Saibal, 2017. "Why is it a man’s world, after all? Women on bank boards in India," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 41(1), pages 109-121.
    15. Talavera, Oleksandr & Yin, Shuxing & Zhang, Mao, 2016. "Managing the diversity: board age diversity, directors’ personal values, and bank performance," MPRA Paper 71927, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    16. Sabeeh Ullah & Yasir Kamal, 2022. "Corporate Governance, Political Connections and Firm Performance: The Role of Political Regimes and Size," Global Business Review, International Management Institute, vol. 23(4), pages 1031-1053, August.
    17. C.S. Agnes Cheng & Iftekhar Hasan & Feng Tang & Jing Xie, 2024. "Market Feedback Effect on CEO Pay: Evidence from Peers’ Say-on-Pay Voting Failures," Working Papers 202408, University of Macau, Faculty of Business Administration.
    18. Addo, Kwabena Aboah & Hussain, Nazim & Iqbal, Jamshed, 2021. "Corporate Governance and Banking Systemic Risk: A Test of the Bundling Hypothesis," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    19. Karel Hrazdil & Gerald Lobo & Ray Zhang & Weiji Zhang, 2025. "The effect of addback statutes on CEO compensation," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 65(1), pages 793-818, March.
    20. Ramiz ur Rehman & Junrui Zhang & Muhammad Akram Naseem & Muhammad Ishfaq Ahmed & Rizwan Ali, 2021. "Board independence and Chinese banking efficiency: a moderating role of ownership restructuring," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 11(3), pages 517-536, September.

    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:wly:ijfiec:v:31:y:2026:i:1:p:129-150. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.interscience.wiley.com/jpages/1076-9307/ .

    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.