If you hire them, pay will come

摘要

Warren buffett once noted that if W you want independent advice, don't ask a barber whether you need a haircut. But if, as a chief executive, you want to earn more, then it makes sense to hire a compensation consultant. Or so concludes a new study from the Judge Business School at Cambridge University. Though its findings hardly seem a shock, previous studies that tried to link bosses' pay and the use of consultants had found no significant effect. However, this new research was made possible by a rule brought in by America's Securities and Exchange Commission (sec) in 2009. It says that when a company hires a consultant for advice on both compensation and other matters, it must disclose the fees paid in each case. When consultants are hired solely to give advice on compensation, the fee need not be disclosed.