While the benefits of higher bank capital for financial stability are largely uncontested, there is a strong disagreement on how bank capital affects shareholder value (i.e., whether higher capital is privately optimal from the perspective of bank shareholders). In this paper, we explore...

This paper examines the effect of “superstar” CEOs (i.e. CEOs that win prestigious business awards) on the voting behavior in shareholder proposals. We show that the superstar status strongly affects the outcome of shareholder proposals in favor of the management, both compared to all...

This paper studies how leverage affects the interaction between firms and labor unions using data on shareholder proposals. We find a negative association between leverage and both the probability of being targeted by union-sponsored proposals and the number of shareholder proposals submitted by...

This paper examines the role played by the media in the shareholder proposal process. We find a positive relation between media coverage and the likelihood to be targeted by governance proposals. The effect is mostly concentrated in proposals submitted by non-institutional shareholders and...