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Long‐Run Trends in A ustralian Executive Remuneration: BHP , 1887–2012
Author(s) -
Pottenger Mike,
Leigh Andrew
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
australian economic history review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.493
H-Index - 16
eISSN - 1467-8446
pISSN - 0004-8992
DOI - 10.1111/aehr.12065
Subject(s) - remuneration , executive compensation , earnings , compensation (psychology) , business , stock (firearms) , executive director , accounting , stock market , economics , corporate governance , finance , management , geography , psychology , archaeology , psychoanalysis , context (archaeology)
Outside the U nited S tates, little is known of long‐run trends in executive compensation. We fill this gap by studying BHP Billiton, a resources giant that has long been one of the largest companies on the A ustralian stock market. From 1887 to 2012, trends in CEO and director remuneration (relative to average earnings) follow a U ‐shape. This matches the pattern for US executive compensation, A ustralian top incomes, and (for the past two decades) average trends in executive compensation in top A ustralian firms. Like the U nited S tates, A ustralia experienced a post‐war ‘great compression’ prior to the recent ‘great divergence’.