U.S. CEO Employment Agreements and Non-Competition Provisions: A Literature Survey

Abstract

U.S. Chief Executive Officers (“CEOs”) remain one of the most studied groups in the law and management literature. However, the terms of the firm-CEO employment agreements are important evidence of executive’s role that often overlooked and, thus, not fully understood. This book chapter consolidates the current research on CEO employment contracts and further examines the underlying research on a specific area of these agreements, the non-compete clause. It summarizes the main findings in the existing academic literature from law, economics and finance on American CEOs’ employment contracts and non-competition agreements. We survey these different literatures to see what is known and to identify future areas for research.This chapter has been prepared for the book, Executive Directors’ Remuneration in Comparative Corporate Perspective, edited by Christoph Van der Elst, Volume 11 in the European Company Law Book Series (Wolters Kluwer Publishers 2015).