CEO Pay, Performance, and Value Sharing

In terms of recourse, members of the public and corporate directors are also divided. Sixty-two percent of the public believe that CEO pay should be capped relative to that of the average worker, and 49 percent favor some type of government intervention to change current practices. Potential remedies favored by these respondents include substantial tax increases, strict limits on absolute and relative pay levels, a required increase in performance-based compensation, and elimination of stock options and equity-based awards. By contrast, corporate directors strongly oppose external intervention. Eighty-four percent believe that there should be no limit to CEO pay relative to that of the average worker, and almost all (98 percent) oppose government intervention in all forms