Does the Family Matter? Improving Executive Compensation Practices in Family Firms

Abstract

The salaries of top executives can be a hot topic and a source of family business conflict and stress – at family businesses and non-family firms. How can family business leaders decide what’s fair? We looked at what research has found about this topic and discovered that it doesn’t answer some key questions about executive compensation in family firms. Along with reviewing this research, our conversations with family executives and advisors revealed that families need to talk about pay well before it causes a problem.