Relationships between corporate interdependencies and profits, recruitment of executives and their income situation (literature study)

Globalization and the associated intensification of competition are leading to an increased shareholder value orientation in goods and financial markets. The unbundling of “Deutschland AG” is leading to a reduction in the “power of the banks”. This raises the question of whether control mechanisms adequately steer the behavior of the management of large public companies. Effective progress could lead to greater effectiveness and independence of supervisory bodies. Filling top positions is made more difficult by a narrow pool of applicants. The reasons for this are high educational requirements and selective recruitment processes for top managers. Better access for women by improving the choice between paid and unpaid work and reducing the socially selective effects of the German education system could therefore increase the efficiency of the market for managers and ensure appropriate salaries.

For the German government's 3rd Poverty and Wealth Report, a literature study was prepared at short notice to present and summarize existing studies on the relationship between the profit situation of companies, the income generation of executives and the mechanisms for recruiting economic management elites.
The literature study has been published by the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs in the series “Lebenslagen in Deutschland” and can be downloaded from the Internet at www.bmas.de/coremedia/generator/28456/forschungsprojekt__A382.html.