Publications

2021
Working Paper

Proxy Advisory Firms and Corporate Shareholder Engagement

By: Aiyesha Dey, Joshua White and Austin Starkweather

We examine the influence of proxy advisors on firms’ shareholder engagement behavior. Our analyses exploit a quasi-natural experiment using Say-On-Pay voting outcomes near a threshold that triggers a review of engagement activities by Institutional Shareholder Services... View Details

Keywords: Proxy Advisors; ISS; Shareholder Engagement; Disclosure; Business and Shareholder Relations; Executive Compensation; Corporate Disclosure

January 2020
Article

Compensation Consultants and the Level, Composition, and Complexity of CEO Pay

By: Kevin J. Murphy and Tatiana Sandino

We provide fresh evidence regarding the relation between compensation consultants and CEO pay. First, firms that employ consultants have higher-paid CEOs—this result is robust to firm fixed effects and matching on economic and governance variables. Second, while this... View Details

Keywords: Consultants; Benchmarking; Incentive Pay; Executive Compensation; Complexity; Motivation and Incentives; Governance

Find at Harvard

2020
Working Paper

Are ISS Recommendations Informative? Evidence from Assessments of Compensation Practices

By: Ana Albuquerque, Mary Ellen Carter and Susanna Gallani

Using detailed information from the largest proxy advisor in the U.S., Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS), we examine whether proxy advisors’ assessments of firms’ compensation practices are able to identify poor compensation practices as measured by subsequent... View Details

Keywords: Proxy Advisors; CEO Compensation; Say-on-Pay; Institutional Shareholder Voting; Executive Compensation; Performance

2019
Working Paper

Compensation Consultants and the Level, Composition, and Complexity of CEO Pay

By: Kevin J. Murphy and Tatiana Sandino

We provide fresh evidence regarding the relation between compensation consultants and CEO pay. First, firms that employ consultants have higher-paid CEOs—this result is robust to firm fixed effects and matching on economic and governance variables. Second, while this... View Details

Keywords: Consultants; Benchmarking; Incentive Pay; Executive Compensation; Complexity; Motivation and Incentives; Governance

March 2014 (Revised September 2019)
Teaching Note

Say on Pay: Qualcomm, Inc. Shareholders Vote 'Maybe'

By: Suraj Srinivasan and Charles C.Y. Wang

This case centers around Qualcomm shareholders' 2012 Say-on-Pay vote and the dispute between the Institutional Shareholder Services and management regarding the appropriateness of the CEO's compensation plan. Was ISS right that Qualcomm CEO's pay was inflated and... View Details

Keywords: ISS; Proxy Advisor; Investor Communication; Investor Relations; Peers; Say-on-Pay; Benchmarking; Peer Group; Compensation Committee; Board Of Directors; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations

Purchase

July 2013 (Revised September 2019)
Case

Say on Pay: Qualcomm, Inc. Shareholders Vote 'Maybe'

By: Suraj Srinivasan, Charles C.Y. Wang and Kelly Baker

This case centers around Qualcomm shareholders' 2012 Say-on-Pay vote and the dispute between the Institutional Shareholder Services and management regarding the appropriateness of the CEO's compensation plan. Was ISS right that Qualcomm's CEO's pay was inflated and... View Details

Keywords: ISS; Proxy Advisor; Investor Communication; Investor Relations; Peers; Say-on-Pay; Benchmarking; Peer Group; Compensation Committees; Board Of Directors; Governing and Advisory Boards; Executive Compensation; Corporate Governance; Business and Shareholder Relations; Telecommunications Industry