The Moderating Role of Country-specific Characteristics on Pay-performance Relationship in Asian Markets: A Meta-Analysis Approach

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to integrate the findings of the studies related to the relationship between CEO compensation and firm performance in Asian countries. The second concern of the paper is to explore the moderating role of country-specific characteristics on the pay-performance relationship in Asian markets. In order to achieve the study’s objective, meta-analysis technique is utilized through CMA. Basically, the results are analyzed with both the fixed effect and random effect models. however, the assumption of the fixed effect model regarding same true effect size was not fulfilled. Moreover, a higher level of heterogeneity was detected. Therefore, this study ignores the results denoted by the fixed effect model and follows the results prescribed by the random effect model. After eliminating outliers, the findings from 22 studies revealed that CEO compensation in Asian markets is aligned with firm performance but with the small magnitude. Furthermore, the results from the method of moments suggested that there is a positive effect of country’s development and literacy on the pay-performance link, however, the negative effect of gender inequality and Islamic practices are evaluated. Conversely, no significant effect of corruption on the pay-performance relationship is purported in the study. As the authors find the influence of country-specific characteristics on the pay-performance relationship in Asian markets, this study confirms the need for enhancing pay-performance sensitivity in Asian markets to mitigate potential agency conflicts.