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Does tax policy affect executive compensation? evidence from postwar tax reforms

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Abstract
Evidence since the 1980s suggests that the level and structure of executive compensation in U.S. public corporations are largely unresponsive to tax incentives. However, the relative tax advantage of different forms of pay has been relatively small during this period. Using a sample of top executives in large firms from 1946 to 2005, we find little response of salaries, qualified stock options, long-term incentive pay, or bonuses paid after retirement to changes in tax rates on labor income--even though tax rates were significantly higher and more heterogeneous across individuals in the first several decades following WWII. To explain this lack of response, we find suggestive evidence that concerns about within-firm equality may have limited firms' ability to differentiate top executives' compensation packages based on their marginal income tax rates.

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  • Carola Frydman & Raven S. Molloy, 2009. "Does tax policy affect executive compensation? evidence from postwar tax reforms," Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2009-30, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System (U.S.).
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedgfe:2009-30
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    Cited by:

    1. Laurence Ales & Christopher Sleet, 2016. "Taxing Top CEO Incomes," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 106(11), pages 3331-3366, November.
    2. Peter Krenn, 2017. "The Impact of Taxes on Competition for CEOs," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(3), pages 503-530, July.
    3. Paweł Doligalski & Abdoulaye Ndiaye & Nicolas Werquin, 2023. "Redistribution with Performance Pay," Journal of Political Economy Macroeconomics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 1(2), pages 371-402.
    4. Carola Frydman & Dirk Jenter, 2010. "CEO Compensation," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 2(1), pages 75-102, December.
    5. Krenn, Peter, 2015. "The impact of taxes on competition for CEOs," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 190, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    6. Dana C. Andersen & Ramón López, 2019. "Do Tax Cuts Encourage Rent Seeking By Top Corporate Executives? Theory And Evidence," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 37(2), pages 219-235, April.
    7. Geir H. Bjertnæs, 2012. "Promotion rat race and public policy," Discussion Papers 686, Statistics Norway, Research Department.
    8. Goldman, Nathan C. & Ozel, Naim Bugra, 2023. "Executive compensation, individual-level tax rates, and insider trading profits," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 76(1).
    9. Frydman, Carola & Papanikolaou, Dimitris, 2018. "In search of ideas: Technological innovation and executive pay inequality," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(1), pages 1-24.
    10. Bird, Andrew, 2018. "Taxation and executive compensation: Evidence from stock options," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 127(2), pages 285-302.
    11. Frydman, Carola & Molloy, Raven, 2012. "Pay Cuts for the Boss: Executive Compensation in the 1940s," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 72(1), pages 225-251, March.
    12. Voßmerbäumer, Jan & Wagner, Franz W., 2013. "Steuerwirkungen betrieblicher Entgeltpolitik," arqus Discussion Papers in Quantitative Tax Research 144, arqus - Arbeitskreis Quantitative Steuerlehre.
    13. Geir Bjertnaes, 2012. "Promotion Rat Race and Public Policy," CESifo Working Paper Series 3781, CESifo.
    14. Gorry, Aspen & Hassett, Kevin A. & Hubbard, R. Glenn & Mathur, Aparna, 2017. "The response of deferred executive compensation to changes in tax rates," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 151(C), pages 28-40.
    15. Bührle, Anna Theresa & Yen, Chia-Yi, 2023. "Too much "skin in the game" ruins the game: Evidence from managerial capital gains taxes," ZEW Discussion Papers 23-028, ZEW - Leibniz Centre for European Economic Research, revised 2023.
    16. H Peyton Young & Lucas Merrill Brown, 2016. "The Diffusion of a Social Innovation: Executive Stock Options from 1936," Economics Series Working Papers 777, University of Oxford, Department of Economics.
    17. Maximilian von Ehrlich & Doina Radulescu, 2017. "The taxation of bonuses and its effect on executive compensation and risk‐taking: Evidence from the UK experience," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(3), pages 712-731, September.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Executives - Salaries; Income tax;

    JEL classification:

    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • H24 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Personal Income and Other Nonbusiness Taxes and Subsidies
    • H32 - Public Economics - - Fiscal Policies and Behavior of Economic Agents - - - Firm
    • J33 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Compensation Packages; Payment Methods
    • J31 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Wages, Compensation, and Labor Costs - - - Wage Level and Structure; Wage Differentials
    • N32 - Economic History - - Labor and Consumers, Demography, Education, Health, Welfare, Income, Wealth, Religion, and Philanthropy - - - U.S.; Canada: 1913-

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