Market competition and executive pay

Abstract

Empirical evidence suggests that executive pay is related to the level of product-market competition. However, while most shocks or policy reforms that foster competition tend to strengthen the link between competition and performance-related pay, it can also be the case that increasing competition reduces incentives. Also, as firms may change their pay structures, the effect of changes in competition to CEOs’ pay is uncertain. Policies aimed at reducing wage inequality or at affecting the provision of incentives should consider market idiosyncrasies as well as taking these different effects into account.