Two studies detail CEO-worker pay gap
Here's something to ponder over Labor Day weekend: Chief executives last year averaged $10.8 million in total compensation, more than 364 times the pay of the average US worker, according to a new study by two advocacy groups, one of them from Boston.
And the top 20 private equity and hedge fund managers pocketed an average $657.5 million, or 22,255 times the pay of the average worker, claims the study, titled "Executive Excess 2007," which cited estimates by Forbes magazine.
The study was developed by the Institute for Policy Studies, a research group in Washington, D.C., and United for a Fair Economy, a Boston-based nonprofit group that seeks to influence budget and tax policy.
The study noted that the 20 highest-paid European corporate managers made only a third as much as the 20 highest earning US executives took home last year.
"The CEO-worker pay gap is finally getting some high-profile attention from presidential candidates," report co-author Sarah Anderson said in a statement. "But lawmakers still aren't doing enough to tackle the gap."
(By Chris Reidy, Globe staff)
