Markets and Compensation for Executives in Europe (International Business and Management, 24)

The increasing amounts of money paid out in compensation to corporate executives have become the subject of a heated public policy debate on both sides of the Atlantic during the last decade. The magnitude of these sums, as well as the timing of payments relative to evidence of corporate success or - more notably, failure - has surprised and, in many cases, angered employees, shareholders and politicians, and drawn considerable attention in the media. Are executives in many firms exploiting their power to benefit themselves at the expense of other stakeholders or is the level of compensation the result of an effective market mechanism?This book is intended to fill a void created by the current focus of economic, financial and management research on executive compensation in the USA, and to address whether results from the US generalize to Europe, whether there is a European model for executive compensation, and whether European compensation structures enhance the wealth of shareholders and citizens.