Journal Screenshot

International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences

Open Access Journal

ISSN: 2222-6990

Determinants of CEO Compensation in Malaysia

Nurul Fatihah Aishah Azri, Ahmed Razman Abdul Latiff, Mohammad Noor Hisham Osman, Siti Zaidah Turmin

http://dx.doi.org/10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i9/10762

Open access

CEO compensation comprises of lucrative fees, salary, bonuses, and pension scheme. It is an important topic to be studied because evidence indicates that CEO compensation is positively associated with firm performance. Recently, the incidents of CEOs being paid excessively compared to services they do have been reported in both developed and developing countries. This motivates this study to examine the factors determining Malaysian CEOs compensation. The sample of this quantitative study is Top 80 Malaysia public listed companies based on market capitalization. The results of multiple regression analysis on data of 400 observations show that CEO compensation is negatively affected by the level of board of directors’ independence, but not affected by firm performance, CEO ownership and leverage. Additionally, we detect that CEOs with high compensation and low compensation are different in term of their firms’ board independence and leverage. We suggest future studies should at least examine the effect of CEO characteristics like tenure, education and family ownership on their compensation.

Alazzani, A., Wan Hussin, W. N., & Jones, M. (2019). Muslim CEO, women on boards and corporate responsibility reporting: some evidence from Malaysia. Journal of Islamic Accounting and Business Research, 10(2), 274-296.
Allen, M. (1981). Power and privilage in the large corporation: Corporate control and managerial compensation. American Journal of Sociology, 86, 1112-1123.
Anderson, D., Sweeney, D., & Williams, T. (1996). Statistics for busniess and economics (6th ed.): West Publishing Co.
Benkraiem, R., Hamrouni, A., Lakhal, F., & Toumi, N. (2017). Board independence, gender diversity and CEO compensation. Corporate Governance, 17(5), 845-860.
Bereskin, F. L., & Cicero, D. C. (2013). CEO compensation contagion: Evidence from an exogenous shock. Journal of Financial Economics, 107(2), 477-493.
Boschen, J. F., & Smith, K. (1995). You can pay me now or you can pay me later: The dynamic response of executive compensation to firm performance. The Journal of Business, 68(4), 577-608.
Boyd, B. K. (1994). Board control and CEO compensation. Strategic Management Journal, 15(5), 335-344.
Brahmana, R. K., Razali, M. W., & You, H. W. (2017). The role of gender and ethnic diversity on the performance of Malaysian private companies. DLSU Business & Economics Review, 26(2), 13-24.
Buigut, K. K., Soi, N. C., & Koskei, I. J. (2015). Determinants of CEO compensation evidence from UK public limited companies. International Journal of Business and Management, 10(1), 223-230
Cai, Y., Jo, H., & Pan, C. (2011). Vice or virtue? The impact of corporate social responsibility on executive compensation. Journal of Business Ethics, 104(2), 159-173.
Capezio, A., Shields, J., & O'Donell, M. (2011). Too good to be true: board structural independence as a moderator of CEO pay-for-firm-performance. Journal of Management Studies, 48(3), 487-513.
Chemmanur, T., Cheng, Y., & Zhang, T. (2013). Human capital, capital structure, and employee pay. Journal of Financial Economics, 110(2), 478-502.
Cole, R. A., & Mehran, H. (2008). What can we learn from privately held firms about executive compensation? Working paper (Federal Reserve Bank of New York staff report).
Cordeiro, J. J., & Veliyath, R. (2003). Beyond pay for performance: A panel study of the determinants of CEO compensation. American Business Review, 21(1), 56-66.
Core, J. E., Holthausen, R. W., & Larcker, D. F. (1999). Corporate governance, chief executive officer compensation, and firm performance. Journal of Financial Economics, 51(3), 371-406.
Decktop, J. R. (1988). Determinants of chief executive officer compensation. Industrial and labor Relations Review, 41(2), 215-226.
Gray, S., & Canella, A. (1997). The role of risk in executive compensation. Journal of Management, 23, 517-540.
Hall, B. J., & Libman, J. (1998). Are CEOs really paid like bureaucrats? Quarterly Journal of Economics, 113(3), 653-691.
Haron, H., & Akhtaruddin, M. (2013). Determinants of directors' remuneration in Malaysia public listed companies. Indian Journal of Corporate Governance, 6(2), 17-41.
Hussain, A., Obaid, Z., & Khan, S. (2014). CEO compensation determinants: Is the size or performance of the firm adeterminant of CEO compensation in Pakistan. PUTAJ Humanities and Social Sciences, 21(1), 115-124.
Ibrahim, H., & Abdul Samad, F. (2011). Corporate governance mechanisms and performance of public listed family-ownershipin Malaysia. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 3(1), 105-115.
Ismail, S., Yabai, N. V., & Hahn, L. J. (2014). Relationship between CEO pay and firm performance: Evidences from Malaysia listed firms. IOSR Journal of Economics and Finance, 3(6), 14-31.
Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3, 305-360.
Jensen, M. C., & Murphy, K. (1990). Performance pay and top management incentives. The Journal of Political Economy, 98(2), 225-264.
Jeppson, T., Smith, W., & Stone, R. (2009). CEO compensation and firm performance: Is there any relationship. Journal of Business & Economics Research, 7, 81-94.
Khan, R., Dharwadkar, R., & Brandes, P. (2005). Institutional ownership and CEO compensation: A longitudinal examination. Journal of Business Research, 58(8), 1078-1088.
Lamber, R. A., Larcker, D. F., & Verrecchia, R. E. (1991). Portfolio considerations in valuing executive compensation. Journal of Accounting Research, 29(1), 129-149.
Lawrence, M., & Davis, A. (2015). Top CEOs Make 300 Times More than Typical Workers. Economic Policy Institute Issue Brief 399. http://www.epi.org/publication/top-ceos-make-300-times-more-than-workers-pay-growth-surpasses-market-gains-and-the-rest-of-the-0-1-percent/.
Lu, J., Xu, B., & Liu, X. (2009). The effect of corporate governance and institutional environments on export behaviour in emerging economies evidence from China. Management International Review, 49(4), 455-478.
Ming, T. C., Foo, Y. B., Gul, F. A., & Majid, A. (2018). Institutional investors and CEO pay performance in Malaysian firms. Journal of International Accounting Research, 17(1), 87-12.
Mohammed, I. A., Che Ahmad, A., & Malek, M. (2019). Regulatory changes, board monitoring and earnings management in Nigerian financial institutions. DLSU Business & Economics Review, 28(2), 152-168.
Neely, A., Gregory, M., & Platts, K. (1995). Performance measurement system design: a literature review and research agenda. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 15(4), 80-116.
Ning, Y., Hu, X., & Garza-Gomez, X. (2012). An empirical analysis of the impact of large changes in institutional ownership on CEO compensation risk. Journal of Economics Finance, 39(1), 23-47.
Nulla, Y. (2013). CEO duality, compensation, and accounting performance: Evidence from TSX/S&P Companies. Journal of Scientific and Engineering Research, 4(2), 1-6.
Osman, M. N. H., Abdul Latiff, A. R., Daud, M. Z., & Sori, M. Z. (2018). The impact of management, family, and institution on the auditor's going concern opinion issuance decision. International Journal of Economics and Management, 12(2), 671-691.
Ozdemir, O., & Upneja, A. (2012). Board structure and CEO compensation: Evidence from U.S. lodging industry. International Journal of Hospitality Management, 31(3), 856-863.
Ozkan, N. (2011). Ceo compensation and firm performance: An empirical investigation of UK panel data. European Financial Management, 17(2), 260-285.
Petra, S., & Dorata, N. (2008). Corporate governance and chief executive officer compensation. Corporate Governance, 8(2), 141-152.
Ryan, H. E., & Wiggins, R. A. (2004). Who is in whose pocket? Director compensation, board independence, and barriers to effective monitoring. Journal of Financial Economics, 73(3), 497-524.
Saidin, N., Malek, M., & Saidin, S. F. (2013). The impact of interlocking directorates on corporate performance of Bursa Malaysia listed companies. Pertanika Journal of Social Science & Humanity, 21(S), 111-126.
Shin, J., Kang, S., Hyun, J., & Kim, B. (2015). Determinants and performance effects of executive pay multiples: Evidence from Korea. Industrial and labor Relations Review, 68(1), 53-78.
Sigler, K. J., & Haley, J. P. (1995). CEO pay and company performance. Managerial Finance, 21(2), 31-41.
Tullao Jr, T. S., Cabuay, C. J. R., & Hofilena, D. S. (2018). Is a regional credit rating agency for the ASEAN feasible? DLSU Business & Economics Review, 27(2), 35-50.
Usman, T. (2010). CEO compensation: Relationship with performance and influence of board of directors. Gotland University, Sweden.
Yu, C. (2014). CEO overconfidence, CEO compensation, and earnings manipulation. Journal of Management Accounting Research, 26(2), 167-193.

In-Text Citation: (Azri et al., 2021)
To Cite this Article: Azri, N. F. A., Latiff, A. R. A., Osman, M. N. H., & Turmin, S. Z. (2021). Determinants of CEO Compensation in Malaysia. International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, 11(9), 1332–1344.