There is a Chinese proverb that says He who knows he has enough is rich; but the modern Western version of the saying seems to be: One never has enough; I deserve more; or There is always someone who has more. Over the last years, we have built a system of incentives and motives so […]

As the New Year rolls along, so does commentary on executive compensation. According to the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, by 11:47 am on the first working day of 2017 (January 3rd) Canada’s 100 highest paid CEOs on the TSX index had earned the equivalent of the average annual Canadian wage. Shareholder votes on the […]

In an unexpected turn of events, the Canadian Pacific Railway announced the early retirement of its CEO Hunter Harrison a few minutes before the conference call planned for the analysts on January 18. Harrison thus forfeited all benefits and perquisites he was entitled to receive from CP, including his pension, and has agreed to surrender […]

” U.S. fertilizer producer Mosaic Co boosted its chief executive officer’s pay last year by more than $5 million as a reward for slashing costs and jobs, a regulatory filing shows. Construction of excess potash capacity and fiercer competition have pressured the sector, and leading North American producers Mosaic, Potash Corp of Saskatchewan and Agrium […]

A group of economists, among whom the French economist Thomas Piketty, produced a massive amount of data and statistics documenting the level and rise of economic inequality over long periods of time and across several countries. Making use of this information, Piketty wrote a book, which became the darling of the American, even global, left: […]

Piketty totally misses the real driver of this huge increase in compensation of U.S. executives: stock options. Thomas Piketty is a French economist and the omnipresent author of Capital in the 21st Century. Since the publication of the English version of his book, Piketty has become the coqueluche of the American left. Although branded as […]

After the bruising treatment that Barrick had to endure last year for its indefensible pay packages, the company got the message. The compensation plan it has made public on March 31st goes a long way towards the kind of pay system that all companies should adopt. Having published a policy paper on executive compensation in […]

[…] “Yvan Allaire, executive chairman of the board of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations, was positive about the plan overall “It’s a giant step in the right direction,” said Allaire, praising the move towards share awards over stock options. Options have fallen out of favor in recent years in part because […]

[…] “Professor Yvan Allaire, chair of the board of directors of the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations (IGOPP), an initiative of HEC Montréal and Concordia University, objects to CEOs receiving such large payments when a firm is sold. If it’s a negotiated sale, he believes CEOs with golden parachutes will be more […]

“The Institute for the Governance of Private and Public Organizations (IGOPP) announced today the release of their most recent policy paper on executive compensation, entitled “Pay for Value: Cutting the Gordian Knot of Executive Compensation”. The policy paper, prepared by Professor Yvan Allaire for the working group on compensation of IGOPP, noted that, “We are […]

Large corporations can and should play a significant role in how we deal with social and environmental issues. To do this, however, they need to focus on building long-term value for all stakeholders rather than focusing on delivering short-term returns to shareholders. When managers and board of directors of widely held, stock-market listed corporations look […]

[…]”GoBankingRates.com arrived at these findings by evaluating average worker pay from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) (2006 – 2013) and CEO compensation from the Institute for Governance of Private and Public Organizations’ ‘Pay for Value: Cutting the Gordian knot of Executive Compensation’ (2012) as well as AFL-CIO’s current ‘Executive Paywatch.’ Worker output data comes […]

That so many mergers and acquisitions have failed to deliver value for the shareholders of the acquiring firm (or merged firms) has become a dominant theme, the conventional wisdom of the post 2000 era. That is, of course, until the next wave of acquisitions washes in with its “implacable” logic and seductive rationale. The evidence […]

“Re: “Stock Options Under Attack,” Barbara Shecter, May 23 Rewarding executives with stock options may be a mistake in some circles, as claimed by the Institute for the Governance of Private and Public Organizations, but they are essential tools to attract and retain skilled management in many small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Companies that have yet […]

The policy paper, entitled “Pay for Value: Cutting the Gordian Knot of Executive Compensation“.  prepared by Professor Yvan Allaire for the working group on compensation of IGOPP, noted that, “We are making a series of recommendations about the complex and emotionally charged issue of executive compensation. We hope that our analysis and recommendations will prove a valuable […]

“An influential group including representatives of Canada’s business, regulatory and academic circles is calling for an end to the “mistake” of rewarding executives with stock options. The Institute for the Governance of Private and Public Organizations issued the bold challenge Tuesday as part of package of recommendations aimed at reining in executive pay and tying […]