Etude Cass sur la rémunération des dirigeants des "entreprises du vice"

Social Stigma and Executive Remuneration: The Compensation Premium in “Sin” Industries * Jiri Novak and Pawel Bilinski 1 December 2014 Abstract We document that executives in alcohol, gambling, and tobacco industries (sin industries) earn a statistically and economically significant compensation premium. Compensation premium in sin industries cannot be attributed to (1) higher complexity of sin industries, which requires more skilled managers, (2) higher compensation risk, (3) higher executive entrenchment, or (4) higher likelihood of dismissal due to poor performance. Rather, the premium compensates for social stigma related to employment in sin industries. Consistent with this prediction, we document that (1) executive compensation in sin industries is higher in periods and in states with higher social aversion to sin and (2) sin firms executives hold less outside board seats, which indicates their lower social prestige. Together, our evidence suggests that executives at sin firms demand a compensation premium for bearing negative personal and professional costs of working in industries perceived negatively in light of prevailing social norms.