Bosses of the 50 US companies that sacked the most staff during the recession earned 42% more than their peers, concluded the research.
A report by the Institute for Policy Studies in Washington concludes chief executives shared little of the pain felt further down their workforces as unemployment peaked at 10.2% last year.
A manager of an SnP 500 company saw a modest fall in remuneration last year, down from $9.4 million in 2008 to $8.4 million.
However, those who took the most aggressive approach to cost cutting often fared the best as average chief executive compensation of such organisations was $12 million, says the research.
The highest-paid ''lay-off leader'' was Fred Hassan, former head of the drugs company Schering-Plough, who earned $49.7 million.
''You see really serious long-term consequences of lay-offs. You get lower morale in the workforce, which can turn into lower productivity over time. You have the cost of having to re-hire and re-train people when things pick up'', The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Sarah Anderson, director of the institute's global economy project as saying.
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