Are Chief Executives Overpaid?
by Deborah Hargreaves (Author)

About the Author
Deborah Hargreaves is former business editor of the Guardian and a founder and director of the High Pay Centre, an independent think-tank that monitors executive pay.

About this book
Wages for the majority have been stagnant for decades, but a lucky few have enjoyed a pay bonanza. Top company bosses take home in several days as much as most people earn in a whole year.
In this hard-hitting book, Deborah Hargreaves explains why pay for the top 0.1% has sky-rocketed in the past 20 years. She gives a devastating account of how it has created a vicious circle that destabilizes our economy and undermines social cohesion, demolishing the twisted logic of the chief executives who say: ‘I’m worth it’, when that means raking in ￡70m a year.
A rigorous exposé of the dysfunctional nature of our ‘winner-takes-all’ economy, this book debunks the myths behind top pay and examines a range of pragmatic solutions.

Contents
1 Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?
    How the numbers add up
    Upwards ever upwards
    Changing climate ticks up top pay
    How companies work
    Principal–agent problem
    Money-making becomes sexy
    Recovering economy pushes up shares
    Time men of the year
    Business at the heart of government
    Rewarding top talent
    Who sets top pay
    Notes
2 Just Deserts?
    Wealth creators deserve rewards
    What goes up, should come down
    What constitutes an executive pay packet?
    Payment in shares
    Performing relatively well
    Rewards for failure
    More money for posh macs
    How much effect do chief executives have?
    Luck is important
    Remuneration consultants
    The ratchet effect
    Superstar executives
    Notes
3 Why Top Pay Matters
    Performance-related pay is anything but
    Short-term consequences of performance pay
    Share buybacks
    What chief executives really want
    It’s not all about money
    How top pay keeps down productivity
    Pay disparities damage morale and business reputation
    Trust in business plumbs the depths
    Notes
4 Corporate Governance Fights a Losing Battle
    Attempts to rein in pay
    New Companies Act
    Say on pay
    Shareholder Spring
    Shareholders are not the only ones
    German lessons
    Another attempt at change: 2013 reforms
    Investors look at reform
    Notes
5 What Can Be Done?
    Top tax rates should rise
    Caring capitalism
    New watchdog
    Pushing for pay reform
    Theresa May’s turn
    Workers on remuneration committees
    How many times more?
    Sticking to a ratio
    Procurement power
    Cash is king
    Cash bonuses
    How much?
    A new structure
    Notes
Conclusion
    Notes

Series: The Future of Capitalism
Length: 140 pages
Publisher: Polity; 1st ed. 2019 edition (November 19, 2018)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 150952780X
ISBN-13: 978-1509527809