CEO Pay, Employee Pay, and Pay Inequality in Organizations:  Meritocracy or Monkey Business?

CEO to employee pay ratios have exploded—sometimes topping 900:1—while companies defend widening pay inequality as the natural outcome of meritocracy. But what if much of this pay dispersion isn’t driven by superior performance or market forces at all? Research suggests that a significant portion of the CEO–worker pay gap may reflect more “monkey business”-- flawed variable pay systems and other non-legitimate factors.