This paper describes different forms of ownership across countries and how these forms influence the way companies are governed. In most stock markets in the world, listed companies frequently have a controlling shareholder, usually a family. However, Japan, the UK, and to a lesser extent the...

This paper provides a brief assessment of how ethics, culture and corporate governance have evolved in banking since the financial crisis. It concludes that we need to strengthen capital ratios and equity governance in banking to improve ethics and culture, and de-emphasize liquidity regulation....

This paper reports the findings of a recent survey of 1019 individuals to learn about their commitment to and perceived value from personal and organizational higher purpose, and examines the implications of the findings for corporate governance and the stated corporate goal of shareholder value...

Hedge fund activism refers to the phenomenon where hedge fund investors acquire a strict minority block of shares in a target firm and then attempt to pressure management for changes in corporate policies and governance with the aim to improve firm performance. This study provides an updated...

Organizational higher purpose is gaining increasing traction in both research and policy discussions about the (desired) role of corporations in society. What is higher purpose and how does it affect corporate governance? This paper defines higher purpose and surveys the literature in economics,...

We revisit the value implications of female representation on boards by exploiting the board diversity campaign announcement by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM)—the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund. In February 2021, NBIM required its portfolio firms to have at least 30% female...

A firm’s initial public offering (IPO) generates negative externalities for industry competitors. To mitigate this threat, incumbent firms manage their earnings downwards, issue more negative management forecasts, and use a more negative disclosure tone when industry peers file for an IPO....

The use of private capital to finance biodiversity conservation and restoration is a new practice in sustainable finance. This study sheds light on this new practice. First, we provide a conceptual framework that lays out how biodiversity can be financed by i) pure private capital and ii)...

While mutual funds are required to vote on directors in every portfolio firm every year, many funds satisfy this requirement by following the recommendations of proxy advisory service companies such as ISS. However, companies complain that ISS employs one-size-fits-all policies, which do not...

We ask why we observe multiple layers of decision-making in fund management with investors, sponsors, fund managers, and consultants, even if additional decision-makers are costly and do not contribute to superior performance. In our model, an investor hires a wealth manager (“sponsor”), who...