– Liz Dunshee

According to this recent University of Georgia study, corporate valuations tend to rise after say-on-pay practices are implemented. The researchers looked at 17,000 companies in countries with – and without – say-on-pay laws. Here are a few other findings, as described by the press release:

– When say-on-pay is implemented, the decline in CEO pay is more severe at companies with poor performance. Those in the bottom quartile saw CEO salaries fall by 9.1 percent.

– Excess pay decreased following say-on-pay – especially in firms where CEOs had more power.

– CEO pay is increasing at a lower rate in countries with say-on-pay laws – and is more sensitive to company performance.

– Liz Dunshee

This Winston & Strawn memo – with stats through June 30th for Russell 3000 companies – reinforces what I’d previously noted in this blog: shareholders continue to strongly favor annual say-on-pay votes.

Here’s the details:

– 88% of companies recommended that shareholders support an annual say-on-pay frequency (compared to 56% in 2011)

– 11% of companies recommended a triennial vote (compared to 39% in 2011)

– Shareholders at more than 90% of Russell 3000 companies voted in favor of annual say-on-pay votes (compared to 80% in 2011)

– ISS recommended annual say-on-pay votes for all Russell 3000 companies

If your vote is still pending, don’t forget to disclose your board’s say-on-frequency decision in your 8-K after the meeting. Here’s other memos about say-on-frequency issues..