Does Corporate Law Matter to Executive Compensation?

2017 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 16K17024
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Young Scientists (B)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Research Field: Civil law
• Research Institution: Nagoya University
• Principal Investigator: McGinty Sean 名古屋大学, 法学研究科, 特任准教授 (40706818)
• Project Period (FY): 2016-04-01 – 2018-03-31
• Keywords: Corporate Law

Outline of Final Research Achievements

This research looked at the relevance of corporate law to executive compensation. It looked at the laws of five jurisdictions - Japan, Germany, Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States - from differing legal traditions and with differing levels of executive compensation. Executive pay in the United States and, to a lesser extent, Canada and the United Kingdom has become extremely high in recent decades in a trend that correlates with growing income inequality across those societies generally. In Japan and Germany executive compensation levels remain more modest in contrast, though increasing somewhat over the same period. The research finds that although significant variation exists in the regulation of executive pay across the countries examined, it is difficult to draw the conclusion that these differences alone explain the contrasting compensation levels observed.

Free Research Field

Corporate Law