Researchers are telling us today something that we always knew: that it is not how much you earn that matters but how much you make more than the other guy. A study by Bernd Weber of the University of Bonn says, “No matter how wealthy you are, money is most rewarding if you have relatively poor friends, peers and colleagues.” The King Cophetua syndrome has a rational basis after all.

Writing in Science magazine, the others involved in the research — economists Christian Elger and Armin Falk of the same university — say that this flies against all the beliefs of traditional economics, which holds that it is only the absolute reward (the size of your pay packet) that matters. “The comparison with other people’s rewards shouldn’t really play any role in economic motivation,” says Falk.

Without going into the complexities of the experiment (there will be many who will carp about the findings), one thing is clear: as The Daily Telegraph of the UK puts it: “The implications of this work is that we are trapped on a hedonic treadmill… which means an endless effort to keep up with the Joneses to stay happy.” (Incidentally, the research was conducted on men only; women and Asians will be the next categories to be tackled.)

So how are Indians doing on this ‘hedonic treadmill’? Very well, thank you. Two recent surveys put India at or near the top when it comes to salary hikes. Human resources advisory firm Tower Perrin conducted a survey recently of more than 4,000 companies across the world. Its findings: employees in India got average salary hikes of 14 per cent in 2007. The next year should be marginally better at 15 per cent. Compared to this, employees in China got increases of 8 per cent this year and can expect 9 per cent in 2008. The highest hike in the world in nominal terms is actually in Venezuela, where the numbers stand at 20 per cent for both the years. But inflation there is estimated at 22.5 per cent next year (against the projected 5.4 per cent in India and 3.5 per cent in China). So, in real terms, it doesn’t work out to be a hike at all.

A more recent study is the 8th annual Asia-Pacific Salary Increase Survey by Hewitt Associates, the global human resources services company. Hewitt projects the salary increase in India at 14.8 per cent. But that gives it only the No. 2 spot. The leader is Sri Lanka with 15.3 per cent. The third and fourth ranks are occupied by Vietnam (10.3 per cent) and China (8.6 per cent).

“With more opportunities and avenues, organisations are increasingly at the mercy of employees making a choice,” says Nishchae Suri, head of Hewitt’s Talent and Organisation Consulting Analytics practice in Asia. “Asia’s markets are increasingly feeling the impact of globalisation.”

Percentages are all very fine. And they will no doubt inspire the Bernds at Bonn to conduct further research. For a reality check, however, look at some absolutes. Business India has just come out with its list of India ’s Highest Paid Executives (see box). And the money some people are getting is positively mouth watering.

Leading the pack is Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani, who took home a whopping Rs 30 crore in 2006-2007. Brother Anil Ambani, who for many years shared the honours with him at the top, is some 150 places below at Rs 2.34 crore.

There are some strange names at the top. In second place is Madras Cements chairman & managing director P.R.R. Rajha, who had a compensation package of Rs 24.79 crore. Who’s he, one might well ask. The brief answer: he is the sort of reason that sparks off debates on excessive CEO pay.

The list does not include the local bosses of foreign banks and such like. They can well compare with the elder Ambani. Don’t spend too much time on these figures, however. If Bernd is right, there will be much gnashing of teeth and unhappiness.

India’s highest-paid executives
Name	Company	Designation	Compensation (in Rs crore)
Mukesh Ambani	Reliance Industries	CMD	30.46
P.R.R. Rajha	Madras Cements	CMD	24.79
Kalanithi Maran	Sun TV	CMD	23.26
Kavery Maran	Sun TV	Joint MD	23.26
Sunil Bharti Mittal	Bharti Airtel	CMD	14.96
K. Anji Reddy	Dr Reddy’s Labs	Chairman	14.40
Brijmohan Lall Munjal	Hero Honda	Chairman	14.00
Pawan Munjal	Hero Honda	MD &CEO	13.89
Toshiaki Nakagawa	Hero Honda	Joint MD	13.44
Takao Eguchi	Hero Honda	Director	13.32
(Source: Business India )