Constantly on the ropes over their pay levels, CEOs are fighting back with the Business Roundtable releasing a study showing that their remuneration isn't that bad, reports The Wall Street Journal.

You can read the entire WSJ report here.

The study, based on the 350 large public companies in the Mercer Human Resources Consulting database, found that the median pay of CEOs, was $6.8 million last year, down slightly from its peak of $7 million in 2004.




Still, that's a big chunk of money so don't expect these sorts of surveys will cut much ice with investors.

Institutional investors overwhelmingly believe CEOs are paid too much, reports the Chicago Tribune. According to the study cited in the report, 90 per cent of investors thought CEOs were overpaid, compared with only 61 per cent of directors. That gap in itself is worrying because it suggests boards might be out of touch with investors.

Meanwhile, lawyers are saying CEO compensation is shaping up as THE big corporate governance issue post-Enron.

So what can boards do? The Corporate Compliance & Regulatory Newsletter sets out 5 steps for compensation committees: adopting a tally sheet approach to compensation, considering guidelines for stock ownership, acting independently from management and if necessary engaging independent advisors, developing a meaningful compensation policy and being careful of "benchmarking".

Still, the debate about how much to pay continues to rage on. While everyone agrees CEOs work hard and should be compensated, there's not much agreement on what the right level should be. That on its own suggests the system is deeply dysfunctional.

For some insight into the different arguments about the problem, check this report. Just don't expect you'll come out with any clear answers.