A Theory of Fair CEO Pay
2025-08-27
This paper studies executive pay with fairness concerns: If the CEO's wage falls below a perceived fair share of output, he suffers disutility that is increasing in the discrepancy. Fairness concerns do not always lead to fair wages; instead, the firm threatens the CEO with unfair wages for low output to induce effort. The contract sometimes involves performance-vesting equity: The CEO is paid a constant share of output if it is sufficiently high and zero otherwise. Even without moral hazard, the contract features pay-for-performance to address fairness concerns and ensure participation. This rationalizes pay-for-performance even if effort incentives are unnecessary. (JEL D63, D82, D86, G34, M12, M52)