In Switzerland this weekend, there was a referendum on executive pay. Had it passed, this would have made it illegal for companies to pay anyone more than 12 times the wage of their lowest earners. It would have put Switzerland in a unique place among Western nations on executive pay.
Given that almost everyone agrees that top salaries are out of control and often create perverse incentives to ramp up short-term performance, one might have thought that voters would have backed this populist measure. After all, back in March the Swiss backed a referendum that increased shareholder involvement in salaries and banned golden hellos and parachutes.
