公司績效表現不佳可能導致董事會選擇以大幅減薪之方式懲罰CEO，但減薪後績效迴轉卻可能是盈餘操縱，本研究探討市場上投資人對於CEO減薪是否會改變其所認知盈餘品質。樣本期間為1994年至2014年，將有減薪公司視為實驗組，且使用傾向分數配對選出沒有減薪公司視為控制組，利用差異中差異將兩個組別進行比較CEO減薪後之盈餘反應係數，結果發現有減薪公司之盈餘反應係數下降程度較強，代表投資人對於CEO減薪後公司所認知盈餘品質產生擔憂。此外，CEO減薪對於投資人認知盈餘品質之擔憂僅發生在外部監督較弱之公司，因此在外部監督能力較弱之公司，CEO減薪更可能會導致公司價值受損之結果。

Boards sometimes cut a CEO’s pay following poor performance. However, regarding performance improvement following CEO paycuts, CEOs are likely to engage in earnings management. This study examines whether investor perceptions of the earnings quality consequences of CEO paycuts change or not. We identify firms with CEO paycuts as the treatment group during the period 1994–2014. We then create a propensity-score-matched control group of firms that did not cut their CEOs’ pay and employ a difference-in-differences approach to examine the consequences. Empirical results show that the earnings response coefficient (ERC) declines following CEO paycuts. Investors doubt earnings surprise about firms with CEO paycuts. Further, we find that investor concerns about CEO paycuts only occur in firms with weak external supervision. Therefore, in firms with weak external supervision, CEO paycuts may result in the loss of firm value.

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