(Good) CEOs Are Underpaid - 15 June 2009 (Harvard Blog)

The financial crisis and the recession
have turned up the heat on U.S. corporate boards, exposing them to
intense criticism for their decisions on executive compensation. But
the evidence indicates that CEOs typically aren't overpaid - in fact,
good CEOs may be underpaid.

My research with Josh Rauh
reveals that CEO pay has failed to keep pace with the rising
compensation of top hedge fund managers, investment bankers, private
equity investors, money managers, and lawyers.

Here are a few data points that may surprise the politicians and
other commentators who demonize boards and their highly paid CEOs:

> The pay of other groups has increased substantially since the
mid-1990s, and by at least the same order of magnitude as the
CEOs'--evidence that CEOs aren't benefiting from cozy relationships
with boards.

> CEO pay in the U.S. peaked around 2000. Average pay has
declined since then while median pay has been flat. Average and median
pay for S&P 500 CEOs declined in 2008 and are likely to do so again
in 2009.

http://blogs.harvardbusiness.org/hbr/how-to-fix-executive-pay/2009/06/good-ceos-are-underpaid.html