Can you please tell me if corporate annual reports commonly divulge the salaries of the top echelon of their executives. if not, how are these figures learned by peoples making economic surveys with such data?

Yes, public companies disclose this in the Proxy Statements. It is called a Definitive Proxy Statement Form 14A. You can go to www.sec.gov to find these filings. Here is a link to one that was released today. Definitive Proxy Statement Form 14A