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The reason they do that is because there are rules that prohibit the plan from favoring the highly compensated employees (which usually accounts for the executives). The limits are in place to keep the plan from being "top-heavy".
What's interesting is that if out of your company, nobody contributes more than 2%, then the executives can not contribute more than 4%. I forget the language of how this is worded, but a quick google will provide you with more info. This works well in the other direction though. If everyone in your company contributes a lot to the plan, you will be able to contribute a lot also. This is why the percentage varies among companies.
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