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  • January 2020
  • Article
  • Accounting Review

Rethinking Measurement of Pay Disparity and Its Relation to Firm Performance

By: Ethan Rouen
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Abstract

I develop measures of firm-level pay disparity and examine their relation to firm performance. Using comprehensive compensation data for a large sample of firms, I find no statistically significant relation between the ratio of CEO-to-mean employee compensation and performance. I next create empirical models that allow me to separate the components of CEO and employee compensation explained by economic factors from those that are not and use these models to estimate explained and unexplained pay disparity. After validating my estimate of unexplained pay disparity as a proxy for pay fairness, I find robust evidence of a negative (positive) relation between unexplained (explained) pay disparity and future firm performance.

Keywords

Pay Disparity; Pay Ratio; CEO Pay Ratio; Income Inequality; Executive Compensation; Employees; Wages; Equality and Inequality; Business Ventures; Performance

Citation

Rouen, Ethan. "Rethinking Measurement of Pay Disparity and Its Relation to Firm Performance." Accounting Review 95, no. 1 (January 2020): 343–378.
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About The Author

Ethan C. Rouen

Accounting and Management
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More from the Author

    • 2022
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    Passing the Mic: Career and Firm Outcomes of Executive Interactions

    By: Wei Cai, Ethan Rouen and Yuan Zou
    • February 2022
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    Creating and Measuring Purpose at Viega

    By: Ethan Rouen, Suraj Srinivasan and James Barnett
    • Journal of Financial Economics

    Core Earnings: New Data and Evidence

    By: Ethan Rouen, Eric C. So and Charles C.Y. Wang
More from the Author
  • Passing the Mic: Career and Firm Outcomes of Executive Interactions By: Wei Cai, Ethan Rouen and Yuan Zou
  • Creating and Measuring Purpose at Viega By: Ethan Rouen, Suraj Srinivasan and James Barnett
  • Core Earnings: New Data and Evidence By: Ethan Rouen, Eric C. So and Charles C.Y. Wang
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