CEO Compensation in Times of Crisis

Sammanfattning: We investigate the effect of CEO compensation structure on company performance during the Covid-19 crisis. The results show statistical significance that a high share of short-term incentives in CEO compensation led to better financial performance and handling of the Covid-19 crisis. Furthermore, an industry specific analysis shows that short-term incentives in CEO compensation structure, led to better company performance in the Manufacturing industry. The analysis of the Transportation, Communications, Electric, Gas and Sanitary Service industries shows that a high share of long-term incentives led to worsened revenue development during the crisis. None of the other analysed industries show any significant results.