This event is relevant for anyone concerned to understand and tackle business’s role in the growing social inequality of advanced economies in an informed, fair and feasible way.
Over the last 30 years senior executive pay in the USA, UK and many other developed countries has increased dramatically, generating enormous debate and, at times, public and political outrage. Sandy Pepper’s book argues that this ‘soaraway’ inflation in executive pay is the result of a market failure that has lead remuneration committees to become trapped in a prisoner’s dilemma – where they feel they must recommend over-the-odds payments in the vain hope of obtaining or retaining superior talent. For institutional investors too, these developments have created a collective action problem, with many historically unwilling or unable to intervene to curtail excessive corporate executive pay. Combatting this ‘market failure’ approach to executive pay ultimately requires a stronger, reformed ethical response from investors, companies, and executives – but what solutions are feasible?
Meet our speakers and chair
Katherine Griffiths is Finance Editor at Bloomberg Business and was previously the banking editor at The Times and worked at The Telegraph.
Eva Micheler (@EMicheler) studied law at the University of Vienna and at the University of Oxford before joining LSE Law School in 2001. She is an Associate Professor in Law at the London School of Economics and Political Science and an ausserordentlicher Universitätsprofessor at the University of Economics in Vienna, where she took Habilitation in 2003. Professor Micheler is also on the management committee of the Systemic Risk Centre at LSE.
Alexander (‘Sandy’) Pepper is Emeritus Professor of Management Practice at LSE, where he has been teaching and researching since 2008. Prior to this he had a long career at PricewaterhouseCoopers. Sandy is one of the UK’s recognised experts on executive pay. He is the author of several academic articles and books on the subject, including Senior Executive Reward – Key Models and Practices, The Economic Psychology of Incentives, and Agency Theory & Executive Pay.
Alex Voorhoeve is Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method at the London School of Economics and Political Science. He has held visiting positions at Harvard (2008-09), Princeton (2012-13) and the National Institutes of Health, U.S. (2016-17). His research covers decision theory, moral psychology, and the theory and practice of fair distribution, with particular application to the allocation of resources for health.
Elisabeth Stheeman is an independent member of LSE’s Council, an external member of the Bank of England’s Financial Policy Committee (FPC) and an external member of the Bank of England’s FMI (Financial Market Infrastructure) Board. Elisabeth was Global Chief Operating Officer for LaSalle Investment Management (2013-14), having previously worked at Morgan Stanley for over 20 years (1988-2012).
More about this event
The book is open access and free to read through LSE Press (@LSEPress), the School's publisher of high-quality, open access research in the social sciences. Download for free or order the paperback.
This event forms part of LSE’s Understanding the UK Economy series, showcasing research and expertise on the state of the UK economy and its future.
Twitter Hashtag for this event: #LSEUKEconomy
Podcast & Video
A podcast of this event is available to download from If You're So Ethical Why Are You So Highly Paid? Market Failure in Executive Pay.
A video of this event is available to watch at If You're So Ethical Why Are You So Highly Paid? Market Failure in Executive Pay.
Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.