We study shareholder activism through proxy proposals in the United States from 1997-2006. We investigate the determinants for being targeted and the corresponding voting results. By using a distinctive sample that also includes withdrawn and omitted proposals, we circumvent a selection bias...

We study the global corporate engagement activities of a large UK-based asset manager from 2006 to 2011. Using proprietary data on these activities, we find that corporate engagements “behind-the-scenes” are frequently used to change corporate behavior. We show that geography is an important...

We study private shareholder engagements with 2,465 publicly listed firms from 2007 to 2020 about environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. We examine to what extent private engagements address financially material ESG issues and contribute to firm performance. We find that around 75%...

We examine whether corporate directors learn from environmental engagements by studying the success and implementation of environmental shareholder proposals. We deem a proposal successful when the proposal sponsor withdrew it after negotiating with the target firm. Our results indicate that...