Pay, Performance and Governance in Irish PLCs

Abstract

This study finds that company size is a major determinant of chief executive officer (CEO) compensation in Ireland. There is little evidence of a relation between CEO remuneration and company performance. However, several corporate governance variables are related to remuneration in a manner that suggests that good governance reduces executive pay. There is also some evidence of a distinctive ‘US effect’, in that companies that are more exposed to business practices in the United States (US) have higher remuneration, particularly in the form of executive stock options.