How much – and why – do individual investors value ESG-related activities of firms? In a new working paper, we shed light on these questions by studying how retail investors transact in their personal portfolios around a primary source …

In a recent paper, we examine the economic impacts of a new Texas law to throw light on whether the often-heated political debate over environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues is empty political rhetoric or a reflection of substantive policy …

Investors are increasingly concerned about a company’s social and environmental impact, but that impact is not as easily assessed as the company’s financial performance, which can be summarized by its “bottom line” (net income) or its stock return. To help …

The recent controversy involving public speech at Stanford Law School suggests an appropriate, and pressing, topic to be addressed by the corporate social voice. Consistent with recent practice, corporations can serve their stakeholders by using the Stanford example to promote …

In a new article, we identify a subtle and unrecognized shift in Caremark[1] cases that changes how the Caremark doctrine actually works. Caremark claims, which accuse corporate directors of breaching the fiduciary duty of loyalty by not making a …

Since the international Paris Agreement on climate change was adopted in 2015, there has been a massive upsurge in corporate net zero pledges. In our new article, we explored the climate commitments of large Australian companies. We wanted to …

Poison pills are one of the most powerful deterrents to hostile takeovers, making a takeover so unattractive and expensive that a potential acquirer declines to pursue it. A pill typically works by triggering the issuance of new shares to “old” …

Companies involved in scandals often suffer damage to their reputations from media, consumer, or investor criticism For instance, notable oil spills, from Exxon’s 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster to BP’s 2010 Deepwater Horizon debacle, resulted in both hundreds of millions of …

Much of the debate about activist shareholders is informed by experience in Northern Hemisphere markets, particularly the United States. In my recently published book, I examine the topic from an Australian perspective.

Australia is ideal for exploring shareholder activism for …

The GameStop short squeeze at the beginning of 2021 has brought attention to a class of short sellers who launch high-profile public short campaigns (PSCs) to talk down a target firm’s stock. These activist short sellers, unlike traditional short sellers …

Financial theory suggests that a firm with strong corporate governance (e.g., an effective board of directors), keeps a CEO exactly as long as is optimal for the firm. When the firm’s board and other corporate governance mechanisms are ineffective, however, …

Sound policymaking has helped India modernize and achieve robust economic growth, positioning it to become an increasingly important player on the world stage. But recent developments – and scandals – show that the government must address some major issues if …

More than 40 years after its invention by lawyer Martin Lipton, the poison pill remains the subject of important judicial decisions and academic debate over corporate governance questions, in both the United States, its country of origin, and Japan, its …

In recent years, an increasingly popular strategy among hedge fund activists has been to acquire  seats on the boards of target companies. These board seats are held by what we refer to as “activist directors,” who may be affiliated with …