Compensation for decision-makers as a factor in responsible behavior: An effect in times of crisis?

Abstract 0

It is generally accepted that certain risks could be avoided or minimized if organizations adopted managerial innovation approaches in CSR. To encourage this adoption, some boards of directors condition, in part, the compensation of their decision-makers on the latter. This study, based on the processing of the Vigeo Eiris database, attempts to verify the link between CSR decisions and the compensation of these decision-makers. Knowing that the data dates from 2015–2016, years when responsible compensation boomed as the eurozone experienced a debt crisis, it is important to understand whether in times of crisis, the decisions of senior executives are effectively linked to compensation based on CSR criteria. Of the six CSR variables documented by Vigeo, one (governance) presents a collinearity bias and is therefore left out of the analysis; another (respect for human rights) is not validated; the remaining four variables explain just 11.7% of compensation. These findings will help us to see in the aftermath of the current health crisis whether approaches will evolve in a direction more favorable to CSR.