Mark Roe

What Is Stock Market Short-Termism?

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What is stock market short-termism? It’s important to know the boundaries between stock market short-termism and other economic ills, because in public discourse many social and economic woes are mistakenly attributed to stock market myopia. But when we mistakenly categorize problems as due to corporate or stock market short-termism, when they in fact have little to do with failing to think and plan for the long run, we misunderstand the problem and miss out on the best remedies. Knowing what is, and just as importantly what is not, due to stock market short-termism is vital so that policymakers, analysts, and … Read more

A Critique of the Sustainable Corporate Governance Report from the European Commission

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In July 2020, the European Commission published the “Study on directors’ duties and sustainable corporate governance” by EY. The report purports to find evidence of debilitating short-termism in EU corporate governance and recommends many changes to support sustainable corporate governance. In a recent paper, we point out deep flaws in the report’s evidence and analysis.

Here’s a brief summary of those flaws. First, the report defines the corporate governance problem as pernicious short-termism that damages the environment, the climate, and stakeholders. But the report mistakenly conflates time-horizon problems with externalities and distributional concerns. Cures for one are not … Read more