Proxy advisory firms have significant influence over the voting decisions of institutional investors and the governance choices of publicly traded companies. However, it is not clear that the recommendations of these firms are correct and generally lead to better outcomes for companies and their...

Modern perceptions of good corporate governance assume that the general meeting has a meaningful role in the governance of listed companies and that shareholders make responsible use of their voting rights. Assessments after the financial crisis, however, indicate that institutional investors by...

We examine the role of institutional investors in corporate governance in an environment where ownership is concentrated. The presence of dominant shareholders alters the role of institutional investors by limiting their voting influence; by shifting the focus from shareholder-manager conflicts...

Institutional investor activism seems to be the ultimate means for steady improvement in corporate governance standards, as well as a powerful tool for refocusing short-term strategies towards more sustainable and viable business projects. Although EU institutions have endeavoured over the past...

The exercise of stewardship responsibilities by institutional investors has become an important emerging and widely-debated topic, especially due to its potential to reform corporate governance culture. Its ultimate objective appears to be change in how investment is thought of and carried out,...

This synopsis contains excerpts from and novel introductions to the four chapters constituting “FairEconomy. Crises, Culture, Competition and the Role of Law”, a monograph co-authored and published by the late Wolfgang Fikentscher, Philipp Hacker and Rupprecht Podszun in 2013. In honor and...

Trustees and other investment fiduciaries of pensions, charities, and personal trusts, and those who advise them, face increasing pressure to rely on ESG factors in the investment management of tens of trillions of dollars of other people's money. At the same time, however, confusion abounds...

Using hand-collected data from China’s split share structure reform (SSSR) programme, we theorise and show that the certification of foreign institutional investors mitigates domestic minority shareholders’ mistrust of controlling shareholders’ reform plans and facilitates the SSSR....

We analyze the relationship between institutional investors, innovation and financing constraints. Building on the empirical framework of Aghion et al. (2013), we find that the effect of institutional ownership on innovation is concentrated in industries with high dependence on external finance...