The economy's hard times have taken a toll on financial executives' compensation, according to a survey by Financial Executives International.

Thirty-one percent of the almost 1,000 executives who reported their 2008 compensation to FEI said they didn't get a boost in base salary last year, up from 16% who didn't get a raise in 2007. And the average increase in base salary was just 3.7%, down from 4.96% the year before. Public companies boosted salaries by 4%, while private companies awarded average raises of 3.4%.

Marie Hollein, FEI's CEO and president, says that the latest data shows a continued shift away from cash bonuses and toward the use of stock options, a trend tied to concerns about the retention of finance executives. Just 17.6% of the executives surveyed were eligible for cash-based, long-term incentives last year, down from 22% in 2007 in 2006. But 59.2% were eligible for some type of stock award, up from 36% in 2007 and 31% in 2006.