Local Happiness and Executive Compensation

IF 9.4 3区管理学 Q1 BUSINESS, FINANCE

Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting Pub Date : 2025-01-17 DOI:10.1111/jifm.12225

Zilong Song, Wenwen Zhang, Rixin Liang, Xu Sun

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

How does happiness—an important nonmonetary benefit—affect executives' monetary compensation? Although previous studies have shown that some nonmonetary benefits—such as living quality, air pollution, and corporate social recognition—significantly affect managerial compensation, little is known about the impact of happiness on executive pay. Using a sample of Chinese companies from the year 2008 to 2021, we analyze happiness data at the city level to explore the relationship between happiness and corporate executive compensation. The results show that local happiness is significantly and negatively related to executive compensation. This finding remains robust when analyzed using alternative measures of variables and different estimation methods and when controlled for endogeneity concerns. We also document that executive needs and talent migration are channels through which happiness affects executive compensation. The additional heterogeneity analyses reveal that the negative relationship between happiness and executive compensation is more pronounced if a firm has strong bargaining power or is not state-owned. The findings in this study highlight the importance of nonmonetary incentives in designing executive compensation packages and motivating executives.

Clinical trial registration: This article does not address clinical trials.

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地方幸福感与高管薪酬

快乐——一种重要的非货币性利益——如何影响高管的货币报酬？尽管先前的研究表明，一些非货币性利益——如生活质量、空气污染和企业社会认可度——会显著影响管理人员的薪酬，但幸福感对高管薪酬的影响却知之甚少。本文以2008年至2021年的中国企业为样本，分析城市层面的幸福感数据，探讨幸福感与企业高管薪酬之间的关系。结果表明，地方幸福感与高管薪酬呈显著负相关。当使用变量的替代测量和不同的估计方法进行分析，并控制内生性问题时，这一发现仍然是稳健的。我们还证明了高管需求和人才迁移是幸福感影响高管薪酬的渠道。额外的异质性分析表明，如果公司具有强大的议价能力或非国有企业，幸福感与高管薪酬之间的负相关关系更为明显。本研究的结果强调了非货币性激励在设计高管薪酬方案和激励高管方面的重要性。临床试验注册：本文不涉及临床试验。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting BUSINESS, FINANCE-

CiteScore

9.10

自引率

2.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： The Journal of International Financial Management & Accounting publishes original research dealing with international aspects of financial management and reporting, banking and financial services, auditing and taxation. Providing a forum for the interaction of ideas from both academics and practitioners, the JIFMA keeps you up-to-date with new developments and emerging trends.