From www.icaew.com: (UK context) Emeritus Professor Alexander Pepper critiques the trend toward adopting US-style high CEO pay in the UK, arguing that it is based on flawed reasoning and fails to account for significant economic differences between the two nations.

He highlights that US companies, being larger and more numerous, can afford higher compensation, and that a substantial portion of CEO pay is equity-based, aligning incentives with firm growth.

Simply increasing pay does not guarantee attracting top talent, as the available pool of capable executives remains limited.