The changes at these non-financial firms aren't a direct response to moves by Treasury pay czar Kenneth Feinberg and the Federal Reserve, which apply to banks and big recipients of government bailout funds. The recession, more than government regulation, is driving some of the moves.

But companies for a while have been seeking ways to reward executives' long-term performance and limit excessive risk-taking, according to compensation consultants.

"We are at the tipping point" for eliminating big annual bonuses, outsized severance agreements and other traditional pay practices, said James F. Reda, managing director of his pay consultancy in New York.

Among the changes: more stock-based compensation, with longer waiting periods before it can be sold; higher performance hurdles for bonuses; and limits on perks, severance and supplemental pensions.

Read the full story here on the Wall Street Journal website.