Corporate governance, chief executive officer compensation, and firm performance1The financial support of Nomura Securities and Ernst & Young LLP is gratefully acknowledged. We appreciate the able research assistance of Dan Nunn. We acknowledge the helpful comments of Abbie Smith (the referee), Kevin Murphy, and workshop participants at Columbia University, the University of California – Los Angeles, the University of Colorado – Boulder, Harvard University, George Washington University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, New York University, Stanford University, and Tempe University.1

Abstract