The accompanying data represent the total compensation for

12

randomly selected chief executive officers (CEO) and the company's stock performance in a recent year. Complete parts (a) through (d) below.

Click the icon to view the CEO data.

(a) One would think that a higher stock return would lead to a higher compensation. Based on this, what would likely be the explanatory variable?

Compensation

Stock return

Company Compensation ($mil) Stock Return (%) Company A 14.57 75.43 Company B 4.06 63.99 Company C 7.12 142.04 Company D 1.06 32.69 Company E 1.97 10.67 Company F 3.74 30.66 Company G 12.06 0.76 Company H 7.63 69.41 Company I 8.41 58.71 Company J 4.09 55.95 Company K 20.92 24.32 Company L 6.64 32.17