Jensen M C, Murphy K J
Harv Bus Rev. 1990 May-Jun;68(3):138-49.
The arrival of spring means yet another round in the national debate over executive compensation. But the critics have it wrong. The relentless attention on how much CEOs are paid diverts public attention from the real problem-how CEOs are paid. The authors present an in-depth statistical analysis of executive compensation. The study incorporates data on thousands of CEOs spanning five decades. Their surprising conclusions are at odds with the prevailing wisdom on CEO pay: Despite the headlines, top executives are not receiving record salaries and bonuses. Cash compensation has increased over the past 15 years, but CEO pay levels are just now catching up to where they were 50 years ago. Annual changes in executive compensation do not reflect changes in corporate performance. For the median CEO in the 250 largest public companies, a $1,000 change in shareholder value corresponds to a change of just 6.7 cents in salary and bonus over a two-year period. With respect to pay for performance, CEO compensation is getting worse rather than better. CEO stock ownership-the best link between shareholder wealth and executive well-being-was ten times greater in the 1930s than in the 1980s. Compensation policy is one of the most important factors in an organization's success. Not only does it shape how top executives behave but it also helps determine what kind of executives an organization attracts. That's why it's so urgent that boards of directors reform their compensation practices and adopt systems that reward outstanding performance and penalize poor performance.
春天的到来意味着关于高管薪酬的全国性辩论又将展开一轮。但批评者们的看法是错误的。对首席执行官薪酬数额的持续关注转移了公众对真正问题的注意力——首席执行官们是如何获得薪酬的。作者们对高管薪酬进行了深入的统计分析。该研究纳入了跨越五十年的数千名首席执行官的数据。他们令人惊讶的结论与关于首席执行官薪酬的普遍看法相悖：尽管有诸多报道，但高管们并未获得创纪录的薪资和奖金。现金薪酬在过去15年中有所增加，但首席执行官的薪酬水平现在才刚刚赶上50年前的水平。高管薪酬的年度变化并未反映公司业绩的变化。对于250家最大的上市公司中薪酬中位数的首席执行官来说，股东价值每变动1000美元对应着两年期间薪资和奖金仅变动6.7美分。在绩效薪酬方面，首席执行官薪酬正变得越来越糟而非越来越好。首席执行官的股票所有权——股东财富与高管福祉之间的最佳联系——在20世纪30年代比在20世纪80年代高出十倍。薪酬政策是一个组织成功的最重要因素之一。它不仅塑造了高管的行为方式，还有助于确定一个组织会吸引什么样的高管。这就是为什么董事会改革其薪酬做法并采用奖励卓越绩效和惩罚不佳绩效的制度如此紧迫的原因。
