But is it actually improving corporate performance?
Actually, several studies have even shown it to improve corporate performance.
Do stock options align the interests of managers with those of shareholders, thus improving corporate performance?
(Renuka Rayasam explored this and other research in her November piece on whether female board members improve corporate performance).
If we capped the deductibility of corporate debt, and closed the carried-interest loophole, it would not prevent private-equity firms from buying companies or improving corporate performance.
If the track record of layoffs in improving corporate performance and shareholder returns is so mediocre, why do executives still find them tempting?
James Sproule, the Institute of Directors' chief economist, said: "Today's figures, which show both bonuses and base salaries continue to rise is good news, and another sign of improved corporate performance and strong business confidence.
But it nevertheless promises to be nothing less than the Domesday Book of the management age.The economists conclude that good management is indeed tightly linked to improved corporate performance, measured in terms of productivity, profitability, growth and survival.
"Today's figures, which show both bonuses and base salaries continue to rise is good news, and another sign of improved corporate performance and strong business confidence," said James Sproule, the group's chief economist.
"Poison pills" that are triggered when activists buy shares should be banned.On the whole, Mr Icahn and his imitators help to improve corporate performance by stirring up much-needed debate about strategy and leadership, just as in democracies the government of a country is improved by the existence of an effective opposition.
