Ceo Pay: Don't Look To Japan For Answers

摘要

As the debate over executive pay rages in the U.S., somernmight point to Japan as a model for reining in bloated compensation. CEOs at Japan's 100 biggest companies earn an average of $1.5 million a year, compared with $13.3 million for leaders of big American corporations, accord-ing to consulting firm Towers Perrin.rnBut that doesn't mean Wall Street should imitate the Japanese, compensation experts say. Pay in Japan has more to do with seniority than performance, so there's scant incentive for executives to do what's right for shareholders. On average, only about a third of Japanese executive income is from bonuses linked to financial met -rics, Towers Perrin estimates. In the U.S., it's about 80%. "If [executives] aren't paid enough, they feel they can't be blamed for bad performance," says Takaaki Eguchi, a strategist at asset manager Barclays Global Investors.