We use a social network framework to study the alliance building process that involves activists and other institutional investors and the channels that facilitate such interactions. Actively-managed funds whose managers are socially connected to activists are more likely to increase holdings in...

Firms under the threat of hedge fund activism on average experience significant losses of outstanding bondholder wealth: bond yield and default probability rises while bond prices and ratings deteriorate. Under-threat firms receive inferior terms when initiating new loans. These observations are...

This paper studies the association between hedge fund activism and firm value, using matching procedures to mitigate the selection effects of which firms are chosen as targets by activist hedge funds. We find that targeted firms improve less in value (Q) subsequent to the start of activism than...

We compare activism and takeovers from a blockholder's perspective who can invest effort into improving firm value. Profits from the two intervention modes move in opposite directions when the marginal return to effort changes such that activism, although less efficient, can be more profitable....

This paper investigates the role of institutional trading in the emergence of hedge fund activism – an important corporate governance mechanism. We demonstrate that institutional sales raise a firm's probability of becoming an activist target. Further, by exploiting the funding circumstances...

We look at the reaction to hedge fund activism of managers and shareholders in Japanese firms and explore the implications of our findings for agency theory. We use a qualitative research design which treats the standard agency-theoretical model of the firm as only one possible approach to...

This chapter reviews the single high profile case in which twentieth century antitakeover law has come to bear on management defense against a twenty-first century activist challenge — the Delaware Court of Chancery's decision to sustain a low-threshold poison pill deployed against an activist...

In this paper I examine the phenomenon called Hedge Fund Activism and its effect on the governance of public corporations in the United States.The following subtopics are addressed:1. Definition of Hedge Fund Activism, its primary objective and typical targets;2. Review of the public policy...

I study the effect of a threat of hedge fund activism on corporate investment. I find that managers are less likely to undertake acquisitions when subject to a higher threat of activism. They decrease the number of risky, value-creating acquisitions undertaken by the firm. I present evidence...