If You Re So Ethical Why Are You So Highly Paid

If You're So Ethical, why are You So Highly Paid?

If You’re So Ethical, Why Are You So Highly Paid?

In the past 30 years, senior executive pay has increased dramatically in the UK, US and other developed countries, causing much debate and, at times, public outrage. In this book, Alexander (‘Sandy’) Pepper argues that this soaring inflation in high pay is the result of a market failure, leading to inefficient pay practices that are replicated across industries. Individual company’s renumeration committees face a prisoner’s dilemma, and so recommend over-the-odds payments in the vain hope of obtaining superior talent. For institutional investors, these developments have created a collective action problem, with many historically unwilling or unable to intervene to curtail excessive corporate pay. But are executives themselves really the greedy, self-interested, fat cats of popular culture? Based on a thought experiment and survey of beliefs of over a thousand senior executives from around the world, Pepper and his colleagues found that business executives in fact tend not to justify their pay levels as if they were ethical egoists entitled to act entirely in their own self-interest. Instead, they expressed support for a range of ethical beliefs on inequality and distributive justice. They can be categorised as either welfare liberals, relational egalitarians, meritocrats or free marketeers. Many believe that in a civilised society everyone has the right to an income that is sufficient for a dignified life, and that companies, not just governments, have responsibilities in this respect. So, Pepper argues, it is the market failure in executive pay that has created such wage inflation at the top, and this ultimately requires an ethical response from investors, companies and executives. This is a book for anyone who wishes to understand and tackle business’s role in the growing social inequality of advanced economies in an informed, fair and feasible way.

Australia’s Evolving Democracy

In recent times Australia has developed into one of the world’s leading liberal democracies. Its governments have delivered continuous economic growth for more than three decades, even against the turmoil of a global pandemic. And the country’s highly competitive elections and strong political institutions operate within a stable and balanced federal system. In Australia’s Evolving Democracy a team of leading academic authors use an audit approach to critically explore national government institutions, as well as state- and territory-level politics, and to examine how each has contributed to or held back Australian political life as it has changed and diversified. For instance, the top two parties’ monopoly of governance has only begun to adjust to a modern transition to multi-party politics, although balanced voting systems for two-house legislatures have allowed for some adaptation. To date, the country has successfully avoided both rancorous populist politics (as in the USA) and serious governance decline (as in the UK). Each of the book’s 28 chapters tackles one institution or issue, outlining recent developments along with an analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, to fully evaluate the state of Australian democracy in the 21st century. In doing so, the authors draw key lessons for other democracies, showing in detail how robust major and micro-institutions can guard against democratic ‘backsliding’ and policy failures. This comprehensive audit also highlights scope for potential democratic improvements. Australia continues to confront the challenges of partisan political barriers to addressing climate change and improving the situation of First Nations peoples, redressing modern social inequalities, and responding to popular mistrust of government and politicians. By taking an in-depth, nuanced approach to multiple democratic issues across the whole of the country’s distinctive political system, this book provides analysis that is accessible for students new to Australian politics, along with many insights for political scientists studying comparative democratic politics and Australian institutions.