Two-thirds of Swiss voters today rejected a referendum to cap executive pay at 12 times the wage of a firm's lowest earner, according to provisional results aired on local television.
The measure had been expected to fail, but the debate has tapped into a vein of discontent among Swiss voters who in March backed rules to rein in golden handshakes, in the wake of high-profile exit payments to top bosses.
Dubbed the "1:12" initiative after the legally-binding ratio it would set between the top and bottom salaries in a firm, the plan met with stiff opposition from Switzerland's business community and political right.
Ahead of the vote, its critics issued stark warnings that inscribing salary restrictions into the law would make the wealthy Alpine nation less competitive and break with a Swiss tradition of limited official meddling in business.
"There's a climate of mistrust towards those who make money," Jean-Claude Biver, boss of high-end watchmaker Hublot, told the Swiss daily Le Temps.
Christoph Darbellay, head of the centre-right Christian Democratic Party, told AFP he could understand disquiet over "undeserved salaries".
But voting Yes would be tantamount to "shooting ourselves in the foot", he insisted.
Switzerland's cross-party government had urged a No vote, saying a 1:12 law would dent tax revenues and scare off foreign firms.
Switzerland, which has long boasted a business-friendly climate coupled with one of the highest average salaries in the world, has largely avoided the economic crisis dogging the European Union, of which it is a staunch non-member.
