I en gennemgang undersøger forskere en stribe spørgsmål bestyrelsen bør stille sig selv ved fastsættelse af topchefens aflønning: ”CEO compensation is a highly controversial subject. While most company directors believe that CEO pay is not a problem, the majority of the American public believes that it is. The difficulties that boards face in justifying CEO pay levels in some ways stem from the challenge of quantifying how much value a CEO creates and how much of this value should be shared as compensation. We examine this topic in detail and ask: Why are CEO compensation arrangements not explicitly tied to value creation? How much does a CEO personally contribute to corporate performance?” Directors have a more favorable view than even the highest estimate above. According to survey data, directors believe that 40 percent of a company’s overall performance is directly attributable to the efforts of the CEO. Interviews with compensation consultants suggest that shareholders are satisfied if the CEO receives 1 percent of total shareholder return over a three-year period. For example, if $4 billion in value is generated through an increase in market capitalization and dividends paid, shareholders are satisfied with a CEO earning $40 million. Survey data suggests that directors consider a similar value sharing arrangement to be fair.”