Levels of executive remuneration : impact of the global financial crisis

There has been a lot of recent attention by stakeholders (including the media) in payments made to senior executives, particularly those listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, and the performance of the corporations that they lead. This research study discussed a number of techniques (both in terms of data analysis and data presentation) which can be applied to investigating issues associated with remuneration of senior executives. These techniques are applied to three Australian private sector corporations listed on the Australian Securities Exchange, namely: Cochlear, Fortescue Metals Group and QANTAS. This study looks at levels of remuneration paid to senior executives prior to, during and following the global financial crisis. It attempts to determine if the levels of remuneration paid to these senior executives was affected by the global financial crisis. In addition the study also provides some insight into whether or not the corporations' stakeholders, particularly shareholders, are getting value for money from the performance and the payments made to their senior executive staff. The study is seen as an exploratory one that will lead to a number of other more detailed and in-depth efforts in this area.