Search Results
Journal Article
Dissecting Wage Dispersion
Wages are substantially dispersed across workers, jobs, and employers in the U.S. economy. Although some of that dispersion is due to demographic factors, the authors found that after controlling for those differences, both ?who you are? (the permanent component of wage dispersion) and ?where you work? (the match-specific component of wagedispersion) contribute to the range of wages paid.
Working Paper
Risk Choices and Compensation Design
We analyze the impact of bad-tail risks on managerial pay functions, especially the decision to pay managers in stock or in options. In contrast to conventional wisdom, we find that options are often a superior vehicle for limiting managerial incentives to take bad-tail risks while providing incentives to exert effort. Arrangements similar to collar options are able to incent the desired project choice in wider range of circumstances than call options or stock. However, information requirements appear high. We briefly explore alternatives with features similar to maluses and clawbacks, which ...
Staff Pick: Declining Labor Share and U.S. Industries
In recent decades, the share of payments to labor have been trending down in several countries. Here are trends among U.S. industries.
Journal Article
Policy Update: Taking Back Bankers’ Compensation
For several years, leaders at Silicon Valley Bank made a series of bets that contributed, along with poor risk management, to the ultimate failure of that institution. Subsequently, almost up to the very hour federal regulators took over the failing bank, its top leaders were receiving significant bonuses. If bank executives are found to be responsible for the failure of their institution, should those executives be able to keep the profits they earned while leading the bank into ruin? As part of its efforts to prevent future bank failures, Congress has been examining the authorities granted ...