Mind the (pay) gap

The gulf between executive and employee pay is widening, but nomination and remuneration committees should exercise restraint, argues Angeli Benham of Legal & General.
Total pay for executive directors, and particularly chief executives, has increased sharply over the past decade. When compared with the performance of the market, the increasing level of executive pay is becoming difficult to justify.
High Pay Centre research shows earnings for FTSE 100 CEOs increased by 146% from 2000 to 2013, compared with only 43% for all FTSE 100 full-time employees.
Evidence on whether increasing pay leads to performance improvements is mixed. For example, research by Professor Dan Ariely of Duke University shows that vari
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