Disclosure of executive remuneration in listed public utility companies

This research aims to examine disclosure of executive remuneration in listed companies, by studying in-depth, in particular, the rules and recommendations adopted in industrialised Countries and to verify the effective communication behaviours adopted in Italy and in foreign Countries by listed public utility companies in relation to cognitive-evaluation stakeholders’ expectations and the observance of the regulations in force. Disclosure of the remuneration is an important topic, considering also the potential conflicts between: form, structure and level of executive directors’ remuneration and corporate performance optimization in the long term. Therefore, the following research questions are: What are the remuneration systems, disclosure tools and regulations about remuneration policies; executive directors’ remuneration; share-based remuneration adopted in the international context? What are the main results coming out from the comparison of remuneration systems disclosure by rules, regulations and recommendation provided in the two groups considered (“European” and “non-European” Countries) and the level of disclosure conformity and alignment to facilitate information accessibility and comparability to stakeholders? How have the listed companies operating in the public utilities sector implemented remuneration systems disclosure in the corporate behaviour in order to assess if the companies surveyed behave in conformity with transparency provisions and assure information completeness? The topic is interesting because, in listed companies, the disclosure of remuneration has recently attracted particular attention, especially with regard to remuneration of individual directors of the company, executive and non-executive or supervisory directors. From this analysis, it firmly stands out that the level of corporate remuneration systems disclosure, strictly connected to the provisions system in force is more satisfying where the reference rules are structured and detailed. In fact, with reference to several elements, we have found out that, where specific legal provisions are lacking, information provided by companies is brief or even missing. This leads to ponder about the importance of adequate regulations, able to assure an effective response to transparency needs and protection to all stakeholders, in light of the present global arena, as well. It is, therefore, desirable and we hope that policy recommendations will be considered, the achievement at an international level of representation models containing uniform and comparable information, both in form (tabular and narrative) and contents. The existence of international bodies which promote this process, at an international level, would spur further towards the creation of a system able to assign a higher value to the regulations of each country and to current corporate best practices.