Advancing Research on Shareholder Activism

Shareholder activists target firms on issues related to corporate governance and performance, as well as social, political, and environmental concerns. Corporations are central to modern societies, and research suggests that both financially and non-financially motivated shareholder activism can influence the manners in which firms conduct their businesses. While the scholarship on shareholder activism is extensive, it is not devoid of limitations and controversies. For instance, how shareholder activists exert their influence on corporate behaviors and when firms concede or do not concede under such pressures remain open questions. Additionally, the positive and negative consequences of financial activism continue to be a source of scholarly debate. Furthermore, although socially and environmentally motivated shareholder activism is on the rise, empirical investigations of non-financial shareholder activism remain sparse. This symposium will explore these various dimensions of shareholder activism and develop a future research agenda for this evolving scholarship. The Importance of Corporate Social Responsibility Following Shareholder Activism: A Case of Employee Presenter: Mark R. DesJardine; Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth Executive Imprinting of Shareholder Unrest and Firms’ CSR Engagement Presenter: Abhinav Gupta; U. of Washington, Seattle Presenter: Michelle K. Lee; Smith School of Business, Queen's U. Who Resists Isomorphism in Corporate Governance? The Case of Classified Boards Presenter: Eun Woo Kim; U. of Nottingham Ningbo China Presenter: Gerald F. Davis; U. of Michigan We Want You to Succeed: A Non-Antagonistic Approach to Activism Presenter: Prami Sengupta; U. of California, Irvine Assessing Variance in Activist Power in Private vs Public Political Forums Presenter: Sathyanarayan Vijayakumar; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania Presenter: Mary-Hunter McDonnell; The Wharton School, U. of Pennsylvania