Say on Pay: ein Überblick über Gestaltungsoptionen, ökonomische Konsequenzen und Erkenntnisse aus Empirie und Laborexperimenten

Unter dem Stichwort Say on Pay (SoP) haben in den letzen Jahren die meisten Länder der EU und die USA den Aktionären Abstimmungsrechte im Zusammenhang mit der Vergütung des Top-Managements eingeräumt. Zwischen den einzelnen Ländern bestehen jedoch erhebliche Unterschiede hinsichtlich der konkreten Ausgestaltung des SoP. Dieser Beitrag diskutiert die Wirkungen unterschiedlicher Gestaltungsoptionen des SoP auf die Anreizgestaltung und den Nutzen des Managements und der Aktionäre im Rahmen eines einfachen linearen Agency Modells. Dabei erweisen sich das vorvertragliche bindende SoP und das bedingt verpflichtende, nachvertragliche bindende SoP gegenüber den anderen untersuchten Varianten als überlegen. Während das konsultative SoP an seiner mangelnden Durchsetzbarkeit leidet, bietet das nachvertragliche bindende SoP Anreize für opportunistisches Verhalten auf Seiten der Aktionäre und führt deshalb zu Wohlfahrtsverlusten. In Ergänzung der Modellanalyse wird ein Überblick über die wichtigsten empirischen und experimentellen Studien zum Thema SoP gegeben und deren Inhalt im Lichte der Modellergebnisse diskutiert. Most countries of the European Union as well as the US recently introduced shareholder votes on the remuneration of executives, also referred to as “Say on Pay” (SoP). Interestingly, legislators in different jurisdictions opted for quite dissimilar voting right regimes. We provide an overview of the main regulatory approaches and discuss the potential impact of variations in SoP design on the structure of compensation contracts and the utility of shareholders and executives. We find that pre-contractual SoP and conditional post-contractual SoP with binding consequences are in the best interest of shareholders. By contrast, advisory SoP typically suffers from lacking enforceability. We also find that post-contractual SoP with binding consequences results in efficiency losses because it fuels moral hazard on the part of shareholders. We complement the theoretical analysis with a discussion of recent empirical and experimental studies on Say on Pay.

[Right-sided lower abdominal pain and diarrhea of a young diabetic woman]

We report the case of a 24-years old diabetic women hospitalised because of right-sided lower abdominal pain and diarrhea. She fulminantly developed shock before appendectomy could be performed and was transferred to intensive care unit. Hypotension remained and laparoscopy revealed primary peritonitis and toxic shock syndrome by Group A Streptococcus which was cultivated in blood and ascites. Therapy with penicilline and clindamycine resolved symptoms. During hospitalisation Clostridium difficile colitis occurred. This complication leaded to prolonged hospitalisation.

Right ventricular systolic function and cardiac resynchronization therapy

AIMS: The effect of cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT) on right ventricular ejection fraction (RVEF) has not been well studied. Furthermore, it is unclear whether baseline RVEF influences response to CRT. To evaluate the acute and chronic effects of CRT on right ventricular systolic function, and to investigate whether baseline RVEF impacts response to CRT. METHODS AND RESULTS: Forty-four patients with a standard indication for CRT underwent radionuclide angiography at baseline and after at least 6 months' follow-up for measuring RVEF, right ventricular synchrony (using phase analysis), and left ventricular ejection fraction (LVEF). In addition, NYHA functional class and 6-min walking distance (6MWD) were evaluated. There were no significant acute changes in RVEF with CRT. After a mean follow-up of 9 +/- 5 months, RVEF was slightly improved (by 1.9 +/- 5.0% in absolute terms, P = 0.016), and to a lesser extent than LVEF (5.1 +/- 9.0%, P = 0.009 compared with RVEF). Right ventricular dyssynchrony was significantly improved at follow-up (P = 0.016). Patients with a baseline RVEF < or = 0.35 (n = 19) were less likely to improve in NYHA class (P = 0.016), and also tended to improve less in 6MWD and LVEF (P < 0.06). CONCLUSION: Cardiac resynchronization therapy has no acute effect on RVEF, and only slightly improves RVEF at follow-up. Patients with reduced RVEF at baseline were less likely to respond to CRT, indicating that right ventricular systolic dysfunction may play a role in patient selection.

[Chronic right-sided pain-associated nondermatomal somatosensory deficit following an accident]

We present the case of a 48-year old man who, eight years after an industrial accident, presents with chronic right-sided nondermatomal pain and hypaesthesia to heat and touch. During symmetric peripheral touch functional magnetic resonance imaging revealed hypometabolism in the left thalamus, somatosensory cortex, and anterior cingulate cortex. Pain-associated nondermatomal somatosensory deficits (NDSDs) localizing to one side of the body are a frequent clinical entity, which are often triggered by an accident. The tendency of NDSDs to extend to adjunct ipsilateral body parts and to become chronic points to maladaptive adjustment of pain-processing areas in the central nervous system. Psychological stress prior to or around the triggering event seems an important risk factor for NDSDs.

Assessment of right ventricular systolic function: Comparison between cardiac magnetic resonance derived ejection fraction and pulsed-wave tissue Doppler imaging of the tricuspid annulus

Systolic right ventricular (RV) function is an important predictor in the course of various congenital and acquired heart diseases. Its practical determination by echocardiography remains challenging. We compared routine assessment of lateral tricuspid annular systolic motion velocity (TV(lat), cm/s) using pulsed-wave tissue Doppler imaging from the apical 4-chamber view with cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) as reference method.

Desmosomal gene analysis in arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy: spectrum of mutations and clinical impact in practice

Five desmosomal genes have been recently implicated in arrhythmogenic right ventricular dysplasia/cardiomyopathy (ARVD/C) but the clinical impact of genetics remains poorly understood. We wanted to address the potential impact of genotyping.

Aorto-right ventricular fistula after transfemoral aortic valve implantation

A 91-year-old female patient presented with worsening exertional dyspnea 1 month after transfemoral aortic valve implantation using an Edwards Sapien valve. She was found to have a paraprosthetic sinus of Valsalva rupture with a left-to-right shunt into the right ventricular cavity. The patient underwent coil closure of the defect with successful shunt elimination.

Pretransplant pulmonary hypertension and long-term allograft right ventricular function

Graft right ventricular (RV) function is compromised directly posttransplant, especially in heart transplantation (HTx) recipients with pretransplant pulmonary hypertension (PH). Graft RV size and systolic function, and the effect of the recipient's pulmonary haemodynamics on the graft extracellular matrix are not well characterised in the patients long-term after HTx.

Right ventricular absolute myocardial blood flow in complex congenital heart disease

A consequence in patients with d-transposition of the great arteries (d-TGA) and tetralogy of Fallot (TOF) is right ventricular hypertrophy (RVH) and right ventricular failure. Myocardial contrast echocardiography (MCE) permits the determination of the myocardial microvascular density reflected by the relative myocardial blood volume (rBV; ml/ml). This study was conducted to elucidate the relationship between RVH and myocardial microvascular changes by quantitative MCE in patients with d-TGA and TOF.