I've left a company (Microsoft) in part due to big bonuses. In my case, it was because the bonus gave me psychological stress. I felt a lot of (self-imposed) pressure to keep performing at a very high level. The bonus was given to me because I did a lot of work to get a product out the door successfully. That process was frustrating and painful. The big bonus made me think "we expect more of the same!"

In retrospect, that's not at all what management was telling me. But I felt it. And I didn't want to go through another year like the one that led up to the bonus. And I didn't feel like climbing a career ladder (the way Microsoft at the time seemed to encourage). I just wanted to be a simple software engineer and build cool stuff.

I guess what I'm trying to say is anecdotally, actions (including big salaries / bonuses) can have unintended consequences.

Take IBM's recent initiative to kill remote work. Well, a predictable unintended consequence of that is a brain-drain. Those who aren't capable of finding other jobs will stay at IBM. Those who are capable will leave for greener (and remote-friendly) pastures.