The physical attractiveness stereotype maintains that what is beautiful is good. Does this also apply to Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and influence their compensation? There are numerous debates on CEO compensation, and scholars have long been interested in understanding the factors that impact CEO compensation. Of the empirical studies investigating the antecedents of CEO compensation, little attention has been paid to CEO facial attractiveness. Drawing mainly from the physical attractiveness stereotype, we argue that CEO attractiveness increases CEO compensation, and the effect becomes stronger when the CEO has worked as a CEO in other firms, but weaker when the CEO is female or works for a high-technology firm. We tested our hypotheses by coding facial attractiveness for all CEOs in S&P 500 firms over 10 years (861 CEOs and 4,395 firm-year observations). Results partly support our predictions and show that the effect of CEO facial attractiveness on compensation is not only robust but also economically significant. Moderating effects were found using prior CEO experience and high tech industry as moderators. However, we found no moderating effect of CEO gender on the relationship between CEO facial attractiveness and compensation. This study suggests that CEO compensation is not an entirely rational process, and compensation committees appear to be biased in favor of beautiful individuals.

中文翻译：

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为美买单？CEO面部吸引力对CEO薪酬的权变视角

外貌吸引力的刻板印象认为美丽的就是好的。这是否也适用于首席执行官 (CEO) 并影响他们的薪酬？关于 CEO 薪酬的争论很多，长期以来，学者们一直对了解影响 CEO 薪酬的因素感兴趣。在调查 CEO 薪酬前因的实证研究中，很少关注 CEO 的面部吸引力。主要从外貌吸引力刻板印象中，我们认为 CEO 吸引力会增加 CEO 的薪酬，当 CEO 曾在其他公司担任 CEO 时，效果会更强，但当 CEO 是女性或在高科技公司工作时，效果会减弱。我们通过为标准普尔 500 指数公司的所有 CEO（861 位 CEO 和 4，395 个公司年观察）。结果部分支持了我们的预测，并表明 CEO 面部吸引力对薪酬的影响不仅强大，而且在经济上也很显着。使用先前的 CEO 经验和高科技行业作为调节器发现了调节效应。然而，我们发现 CEO 性别对 CEO 面部吸引力和薪酬之间的关系没有调节作用。这项研究表明，CEO 薪酬并不是一个完全合理的过程，薪酬委员会似乎偏向于偏爱漂亮的人。我们发现 CEO 性别对 CEO 面部吸引力和薪酬之间的关系没有调节作用。这项研究表明，CEO 薪酬并不是一个完全合理的过程，薪酬委员会似乎偏向于偏爱漂亮的人。我们发现 CEO 性别对 CEO 面部吸引力和薪酬之间的关系没有调节作用。这项研究表明，CEO 薪酬并不是一个完全合理的过程，薪酬委员会似乎偏向于偏爱漂亮的人。