We analyze the sales method for a sample of 575 acquisitions announced between 1998 and 2012 and find that targets choose auctions to maximize the target takeover premium through greater competition and to relax their financial constraints. Auctions, compared to negotiated deals, are associated...

Shareholder activism is an important source of corporate governance. Using a dynamic regression discontinuity design on shareholder proposals that pass or fail by a small margin of votes in shareholder meetings, we analyze the effect of shareholder-initiated corporate governance on earnings...