<p>There are plenty of papers studying CEO pay and firm size empirically. Check a long list <a href="http://econpapers.repec.org/scripts/search.pf?ft=ceo+pay+firm+size+data" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>. Some examples of data sources:</p>

<ul>
<li><p><strong>US</strong>: <a href="https://www.library.hbs.edu/Find/Databases/Execucomp" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Execucomp</a>, used by <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecoj.12084/abstract" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Gabaix, Landier, and Sauvagnat (2014)</a>.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>UK</strong>: Hemscott  and Datastream, as used by <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-036X.2009.00511.x/abstract" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Ozkan (2009)</a> or <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2443.2011.01136.x/abstract" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Gregg, Jewell, and Tonks (2011)</a>. Also, BoardEx and Datastream, as used by <a href="http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/RBF-12-2014-0053" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Tarkovska (2017)</a>. You also have the <a href="https://www.bvdinfo.com/en-gb/our-products/data/national/fame#secondaryMenuAnchor2" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Bureau van Dijk FAME</a> dataset (used by the Bank of England, e.g. <a href="http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/speeches/2017/speech968.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">here</a>), but it is proprietary.</p></li>
<li><p><strong>Germany</strong>: handpicked from financial reports as in <a href="https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/handle/123456789/29662/Heimes_0-274601.pdf?sequence=3" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Heimes and Seemann (2012)</a>, or data obtained from the consulting firm
Kienbaum, as in <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sjoe.12141/abstract" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Fabri and Marin (2015)</a>.</p></li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2017-08-18T14:10:54.613Z
2017-08-18T14:44:49.257Z
2017-08-18T14:44:49.257Z
luchonacho
<p>I posted <a href="https://economics.stackexchange.com/questions/14657/papers-explaining-robertss-law">here</a> regarding sources for Roberts's Law.</p>

<p>In this <a href="http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~xgabaix/papers/pl-jep.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">paper</a> it gives a clear qualification of what Roberts's law is. (Page 9, ...Cross-sectional prediction..)</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>..In a given year, the compensation of a CEO is proportional to the size of the firm to the power of 1/3, S(n)1/3, an empirical relationship sometimes called Roberts’ (1956) law.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>This gives us the following formula:</p>

<p>$ Pay$~$Size^b$ with $b ≃ 1/3. $</p>

<p>I could not find much info on how to calculate firm size so I dug around and found another paper titled "<a href="http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/finance/papers/size.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">What Determines Firm Size?
</a>"</p>

<p>I found that there was an equation given and explained on page 10.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The average firm
  size in each size bin is first calculated by dividing the number of employees by the number of
  firms. The average size for the entire sector is then calculated as the weighted sum of these bin
  averages, using as weights the proportion of the total sectoral employment in that bin. This
  produces a “employee-weighted” average of firm size.</p>
  
  <p><strong>Employee Weighted Average Number of Employees =</strong>$${\sum_{bin=1}^n}(\frac{N^{Emp}_{bin}}{N^{Emp}_{Sector}})(\frac{N^{Emp}_{bin}}{N^{Firm}_{bin}})$$</p>
  
  <p>Emp
  bin is the total number of employees in a bin, N
  Emp
  Sector is the total number of employees
  in the sector, and NFirms
  bin is the total number of firms in a bin. In contrast to the firm-weighted
  simple average, the employee-weighted average emphasizes the larger firms; note the squaring
  of bin employment in the numerator.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Robert's law is now:</p>

<p>$$Pay={\sum_{bin=1}^n}\left[\left(\frac{N^{Emp}_{bin}}{N^{Emp}_{Sector}})(\frac{N^{Emp}_{bin}}{N^{Firm}_{bin}}\right)\right]^{b}$$
Now I am aware I'm kinda just copying and pasting and my research may be incorrect. But i'd like some data to test Roberts's law.</p>

<p>Where can I find data on CEO pay and company information?</p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-15T13:17:11.210Z
I'm not convinced that differences in employee counts in the firm cross-section without adjustments for output levels represent only differences in firm size, could just represent differences in labor intensity of the production process. Does anyone use any other firm size measures like market cap or perhaps some real output measures? There are other concerns about the mix of part time vs full time workers imo.
Hessian
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-12-15T16:55:53.650Z
@Hessian I really don't know, I'm kinda just fumbling around on google scholar trying to figure out If Roberts's law works. It seems like an odd formula to me and this is the only measure of firm size I've found so far.
EconJohn
<reference-request><labor-economics><data-request>
Testing Roberts's Law: data request on CEO pay and company characteristics
EconJohn
# Testing Roberts's Law: data request on CEO pay and company characteristics

(Asked by: username_0 on 2016-12-15)

I posted [here](https://economics.stackexchange.com/questions/14657/papers-explaining-robertss-law) regarding sources for Roberts's Law.

In this [paper](http://pages.stern.nyu.edu/~xgabaix/papers/pl-jep.pdf) it gives a clear qualification of what Roberts's law is. (Page 9, ...Cross-sectional prediction..)

> ..In a given year, the compensation of a CEO is proportional to the size of the firm to the power of 1/3, S(n)1/3, an empirical relationship sometimes called Roberts’ (1956) law.

This gives us the following formula:

$ Pay$~$Size^b$ with $b ≃ 1/3. $

I could not find much info on how to calculate firm size so I dug around and found another paper titled "[What Determines Firm Size?](http://faculty.chicagobooth.edu/finance/papers/size.pdf)"

I found that there was an equation given and explained on page 10.

> The average firm
> size in each size bin is first calculated by dividing the number of employees by the number of
> firms. The average size for the entire sector is then calculated as the weighted sum of these bin
> averages, using as weights the proportion of the total sectoral employment in that bin. This
> produces a “employee-weighted” average of firm size.
>
> **Employee Weighted Average Number of Employees =**$${\sum\_{bin=1}^n}(\frac{N^{Emp}\_{bin}}{N^{Emp}\_{Sector}})(\frac{N^{Emp}\_{bin}}{N^{Firm}\_{bin}})$$
>
> Emp
> bin is the total number of employees in a bin, N
> Emp
> Sector is the total number of employees
> in the sector, and NFirms
> bin is the total number of firms in a bin. In contrast to the firm-weighted
> simple average, the employee-weighted average emphasizes the larger firms; note the squaring
> of bin employment in the numerator.

Robert's law is now:

$$Pay={\sum\_{bin=1}^n}\left[\left(\frac{N^{Emp}\_{bin}}{N^{Emp}\_{Sector}})(\frac{N^{Emp}\_{bin}}{N^{Firm}\_{bin}}\right)\right]^{b}$$
Now I am aware I'm kinda just copying and pasting and my research may be incorrect. But i'd like some data to test Roberts's law.

Where can I find data on CEO pay and company information?

**Tags:** reference-request, labor-economics, data-request

> **Comments:**
> **username_1**: I'm not convinced that differences in employee counts in the firm cross-section without adjustments for output levels represent only differences in firm size, could just represent differences in labor intensity of the production process. Does anyone use any other firm size measures like market cap or perhaps some real output measures? There are other concerns about the mix of part time vs full time workers imo.  
> **username_0**: @username_1 I really don't know, I'm kinda just fumbling around on google scholar trying to figure out If Roberts's law works. It seems like an odd formula to me and this is the only measure of firm size I've found so far.  

---

## 1 answers

### Answer by username_2 on 2017-08-18. Score: 1 | Accepted answer

There are plenty of papers studying CEO pay and firm size empirically. Check a long list [here](http://econpapers.repec.org/scripts/search.pf?ft=ceo+pay+firm+size+data). Some examples of data sources:

* **US**: [Execucomp](https://www.library.hbs.edu/Find/Databases/Execucomp), used by [Gabaix, Landier, and Sauvagnat (2014)](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/ecoj.12084/abstract).
* **UK**: Hemscott and Datastream, as used by [Ozkan (2009)](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-036X.2009.00511.x/abstract) or [Gregg, Jewell, and Tonks (2011)](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2443.2011.01136.x/abstract). Also, BoardEx and Datastream, as used by [Tarkovska (2017)](http://www.emeraldinsight.com/doi/abs/10.1108/RBF-12-2014-0053). You also have the [Bureau van Dijk FAME](https://www.bvdinfo.com/en-gb/our-products/data/national/fame#secondaryMenuAnchor2) dataset (used by the Bank of England, e.g. [here](http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/publications/Documents/speeches/2017/speech968.pdf)), but it is proprietary.
* **Germany**: handpicked from financial reports as in [Heimes and Seemann (2012)](https://kops.uni-konstanz.de/bitstream/handle/123456789/29662/Heimes_0-274601.pdf?sequence=3), or data obtained from the consulting firm
  Kienbaum, as in [Fabri and Marin (2015)](http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sjoe.12141/abstract).


---

