Wolves in the Hen-House? The Consequences of Formal CEO Involvement in the Executive Pay-Setting Process

New Zealand firms exhibit significant variation in the extent to which they formally involve CEOs in the executive pay-setting process: a considerable number sit on the compensation committee, while others are excluded from the board altogether. Using 1997-2005 data, we find that CEOs who sit on the compensation committee obtain generous annual pay rewards that have low sensitivity to poor performance shocks. By contrast, CEOs who are not board members receive pay increments that have low mean and high sensitivity to firm performance. Moreover, the greater the pay increment attributable to CEO involvement in the pay-setting process, the weaker is subsequent firm performance over one, three- and five-year periods.pay-performance sensitivity; compensation committee; CEO influence

The use of GIS in establishing a trail inventory and trail-monitoring sustainability indicators

The use of Geographical Information Systems is explored, in the context of monitoring long-distance walking trails in Ireland, and in the creation of an inventory of trail facilities. The use of simple indicators to monitor trail condition is also investigated. This study focuses on two contrasting Waymarked Ways: the Burren Way and the East Munster Way. The paper therefore seeks to explore the creation and maintenance of the GIS database, and the use of indicators to monitor environmental conditions. The environmental quality of trails is of interest to both the user and the manager of the route. It affects the user in terms of their experience of the trail and the region. The route manager is, effectively, concerned with improving or maintaining the environmental quality of the route for users. The study will include: (a) Factors affecting the user when on the trail – erosion, litter, scenery/ views, etc (b) Connectivity and access. The checklist indicators and results, and the use of GIS will be evaluated. Significant results include a concentration of poor results around parking places on the East Munster Way. Many of the survey points where scores were poor, fell within a 2km radius of parking facilities. The same, however, was not true of the Burren Way

CEO Presence on the Compensation Committee: A Puzzle

Conventional wisdom suggests that CEO membership of the compensation committee is an open invitation to rent extraction by self-serving executives. However using data from New Zealand - where CEO compensation committee membership is relatively common - we find that annual pay increments for CEOs with this apparent advantage averaged six percentage points less than those enjoyed by other CEOs during the 1997-2005 period. After controlling for variation in firm performance the difference is a still-sizeable four percentage points. This puzzling result cannot be explained by risk-return tradeoff considerations interaction with other governance variables selection bias or variable mis-measurement

Wolves in the Hen-House? The Consequences of Formal CEO Involvement in the Executive Pay-Setting Process

New Zealand firms exhibit significant variation in the extent to which they formally involve CEOs in the executive pay-setting process: a considerable number sit on the compensation committee while others are excluded from the board altogether. Using 1997-2005 data we find that CEOs who sit on the compensation committee obtain generous annual pay rewards that have low sensitivity to poor performance shocks. By contrast CEOs who are not board members receive pay increments that have low mean and high sensitivity to firm performance. Moreover the greater the pay increment attributable to CEO involvement in the pay-setting process the weaker is subsequent firm performance over one three- and five-year periods

The Value of Art Therapy: An Intervention to Enhance Emotional Health of Children with Hearing Loss

Deafness is the invisible, unseen sensory anomaly that is difficult for hearing individuals to understand. Deaf and hard of hearing children look the same as other children and have the same cognitive abilities as hearing children; they ambulate, laugh, cry, and have the same basic needs. Research data supports the fact that when intelligence instruments are used that do not rely on verbal and language processing abilities the results show that there is no difference in performance between hearing and hearing impaired children (Moores 2001; Vemon 1990). There is the same range of intelligence for both groups. However there is one difference between the two groups, deaf and hard of hearing children do not have the same language skills to express themselves and most of them experience difficulty receiving and processing aural(spoken) communication (Reward 2003). As a result, many deaf and hard of hearing children develop feelings of isolation

Landscape character assessment in the Republic of Ireland

This is a feature article looking at Landscape Character Assessment from a European perspective. It explains the draft guidelines for Landscape Character Assessment in Ireland, with reference and comparison to the existing UK guidelines published in 2002 by the Countryside Agency and Scottish Natural Heritage. The paper covers the uses and users of Irish LCA, its history in Ireland and its current status

Evaluation of the National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable Tele-Town Hall on Colorectal Cancer Screenings

The National Colorectal Cancer Roundtable with the American Association of Retired People collaborated on a health intervention program to increase knowledge and intention in colorectal cancer screening. The program included three educational communication activities with a target population that included respondents from four states (Arkansas, Illinois, Louisiana, and Nebraska) whom were 65 – 74 years of age and had less than a college education. This population was specifically chosen because they have a high rate of colorectal cancer and specifically have a higher rate of late stage colorectal cancer diagnosis. The first component of the educational program was a Tele-Town Hall educational telephone session with a target population of 100,000 and an expected response rate of 10%. A mailing of educational materials from the Centers for Disease Control and American Cancer Society followed. And then a Post-Event survey telephone call was placed to the 10,000 respondents to the Tele-Town Hall. The expected response rate for the Post-Event survey was again 10% or 1,000 participants. The program will evaluate the knowledge of colorectal cancer and intention for colorectal screenings in a One-Group Pretest – Post-test Design. This document outlines the program, the intervention and the evaluation process and does include some preliminary results. Final results will be reported in June 2011 after all data is received and analyzed on the Tele-Town Hall (March 16, 2011) and Post-Event Survey (April 6, 2011).Master of Public Healt

CEO Presence on the Compensation Committee: A Puzzle

Conventional wisdom suggests that CEO membership of the compensation committee is an open invitation to rent extraction by self-serving executives. However using data from New Zealand - where CEO compensation committee membership is relatively common - we find that annual pay increments for CEOs with this apparent advantage averaged six percentage points less than those enjoyed by other CEOs during the 1997-2005 period. After controlling for variation in firm performance the difference is a still-sizeable four percentage points. This puzzling result cannot be explained by risk-return tradeoff considerations interaction with other governance variables selection bias or variable mis-measurement

Executive Compensation in New Zealand: the Good, the Bad & the Ugly

Professor Glenn Boyle and Helen Roberts presented Executive Compensation in New Zealand: the Good, the Bad & the Ugly. They report on some broad trends and features of New Zealand executive compensation in the period 1997-2002

To the point - diabetes information for people with intellectual disability and their carers

Objective: To describe the perceptions and experiences of living with diabetes as told by people with intellectual disability and their carers and support staff. Design: Qualitative semi-structured interview study. Setting: Southeast Queensland, Australia. Subjects: 67 people - adults with intellectual disability (9), paid carers and support staff of adults with intellectual disability (31), family carers and support staff of adults with intellectual disability (8), service co-ordinators (12), health professionals (6) and other workers in the sector. Methods: Focus group discussions were held with the participants. Their perceptions and experiences of living with and managing intellectual disability and diabetes were recorded and the themes of the discussions studied. Results: The findings revealed a number of shortcomings in relation to diabetes care in a population of people with intellectual disability and their carers and support staff. There are higher than average support needs when diabetes is present. There is resentment at intrusion in their lives by diabetes from people with disability. There are feelings of fear and insecurity about diabetes in carers and support staff. Carers and support staff feel that generally they lack knowledge and also lack support from their organizations to manage both the intellectual disability and the diabetes. Conclusion: The general lack of confidence and knowledge about diabetes makes it difficult for people with intellectual disability and their carers and support staff to function in a effective and satisfying way. There is a need for guidelines