CEOs of companies with a remuneration committee are paid more than their colleagues in companies without remuneration committees. The shareholder structure also plays an important role in CEO remuneration. In companies with a fragmented shareholder structure, CEOs earn more than in companies with a concentrated shareholder structure. These are the main conclusions of a recent doctoral thesis produced by Xavier Baeten (Vlerick Leuven Gent Management School) at the Ghent University from a survey of 298 quoted companies in Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Germany.
Compared with our neighbouring countries, Belgium does not rank first as regards the level of top salaries. When comparing the remunerations of CEOs in similar companies of the same scope and listed on the stock exchange, the United Kingdom is number one, followed by Germany. Such is the conclusion of a recent survey carried out by the Executive Remuneration Research Centre at Vlerick Leuven Ghent Management School on the salaries of top managers.
Most corporate governance codes tend to specify that at least part of executive remuneration should be performance-linked. Studies by Towers Watson and the Hay Group show significant geographical differences in remuneration structure, largely due to different governance contexts (see insets). The 2009 report by ecoDa on executive pay reveals that the median cash remuneration of CEOs in the EU increased by 74% between 2003 and 2007, mainly due to short-term bonuses increasing. Professor Xavier Baeten explains.