Concerns that public policy and regulation have been ineffective in addressing climate change and similar challenges have led to a search for possible solutions in financial markets. Investor activism promoting socially responsible corporate practices, the rise in environmental and social …

The tremendous growth of institutional investors, particularly large passive funds, has drawn attention to their role in corporate governance. Major investment advisers such as BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street are among the largest shareholders in many publicly traded firms and …

The amount of assets that passive (index) funds have under management has grown significantly in recent decades. Domestic passive funds and ETFs now manage more than half of all assets under management (AUM) of domestic equity mutual funds and ETFs, …

Proxy advisory firms have emerged as major players in corporate governance by helping to address the public goods aspects of information production in corporate governance. These firms provide both a) recommendations on how to cast proxy votes and b) research …

Holders of large blocks of a company’s shares are pervasive in developed economies. La Porta et al. (1999) find that only 17 percent of large firms in countries with strong shareholder protection qualify as widely-held, and Holderness (2009) shows that …