People worldwide think CEOs should make a tiny fraction of what they do
by Max Nisen
Executive pay has gotten incredibly high, to the point where the chairman of the America’s largest grocery chain admits things have gotten out of hand. In the US, the average CEO makes an estimated 354 times as much an average unskilled worker ($12,259,894 vs. $34,645)
People all around the world are broadly unaware of how wide the pay gap is, and they are almost universally of the opinion that CEOs should be paid much, much less, according to a new study (pdf) from Harvard Business School. According to the survey data, people in the US think that the ideal pay gap between an unskilled worker and a CEO is 6.9—or 50 times less than the real gap.
Pay underestimation and support for a much lower ratio cut across political beliefs and socioeconomic status.
Using data from that paper, a Harvard Business Review blog post puts together an interesting counter-factual calculation that highlights the difference between people’s ideals and reality.
more
http://qz.com/269972/people-worldwide-think-ceos-should-make-a-tiny-fraction-of-what-they-do/
