Private engagement by Nordic institutional investors on environmental, social, and governance risks in global companies

Semenova, Natalia; Hassel, Lars G.

doi:10.1111/corg.12267

Cited by 35 publications

(31 citation statements)

References 59 publications

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“…These between-cluster effects explain most of the variance in CSP for our sample, but we also find evidence of within-cluster effects. For example, shareholder sustainability activism may explain increased CSP when good governance indicators remain mostly unchanged (Dyck et al 2019;Semenova and Hassel 2019). Such additional complexity is beyond the scope of this article, but future research may want to zoom in more closely on the relationships between nation-level, industry-level, and firm-level governance.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Problematically, existing research on sustainability in the public administration and public policy literatures is fragmented (Armstrong and Kamieniecki 2019), and has mostly looked at how sustainable development initiatives can best be governed at the local or city level (Krause, Feiock, and Hawkins 2016;Feiock, Krause, and Hawkins 2017;Kerret and Menahem 2016). In contrast, sustainability research in the (international) business literature focuses mainly on either the effects of corporate sustainability on financial returns, or the impact of shareholder engagement on corporate sustainability (Semenova and Hassel 2019;Dyck et al 2019). As such, this literature largely ignores the role of nation-level institutions and governance (Ioannou and Serafeim 2012;Liang and Renneboog 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Does good governance mean better corporate social performance? A comparative study of OECD countries

Kaufmann

Lafarre

2020

International Public Management Journal

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Policymakers are increasingly concerned with enabling sustainable corporate behavior as part of the transition toward a more sustainable society. Yet, it remains unclear to what extent a country's governance quality impacts on the sustainable behavior of firms. Drawing on the good governance literature, we hypothesize that the quality of different governance dimensions at the nation-level affects corporate social performance (CSP). This reasoning is tested using a longitudinal data set that combines nation-level and firm-level observations. Different model specifications confirm that countries with a better governance quality have higher CSP. In particular, higher levels of voice and accountability, regulatory quality, rule of law, and control of corruption are positively associated with CSP across model specifications. We conclude with a discussion of the implications for research and practice.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Does good governance mean better corporate social performance? A comparative study of OECD countries

Kaufmann

Lafarre

2020

International Public Management Journal

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“…The name of the institutional investor or investor coalition whose private engagements were analysed is often kept anonymous. Examples of such studies include Semenova and Hassel (2019) in Norway, Dimson et al (2015) in the USA and Barko et al (2017) in Europe.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Successful private investor activism in an emerging market

Viviers

Mans-Kemp

2020

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Purpose Institutional investors in emerging markets are increasingly under pressure to integrate environmental, social and corporate governance considerations into their investment analyses and ownership practices. Old Mutual Investment Group (OMIG) is a South African-based institutional investor that has long been regarded as a pioneer in responsible investing. The purpose of this study was to examine the nature and effectiveness of OMIG's private shareholder activism endeavours over the period 1 January 2014 to 30 June 2018. Design/methodology/approach A unique database was constructed using proprietary, point-in-time data for 69 listed companies covering 283 private engagements. Binary logistic regressions were conducted to test the hypothesised relationships. Findings The majority of the private engagements centred on executive remuneration. This finding was not unexpected given the large and growing wage gap in South Africa. Close to two-thirds of OMIG’s private deliberations were successful. Engagement success was positively associated with a targeted company’s capacity to change and desire to protect its reputation. Research limitations/implications This study only investigated the private shareholder engagement actions of a single, well-resourced institutional investor. Practical implications The findings serve as an encouragement to other investors who are contemplating a more active approach to change unethical and unsustainable corporate policies and practices. Originality/value This unique analysis sheds light on the determinants and success of private shareholder activism in an emerging market.

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“…The international scope of corporate governance research is indicated by the diverse set of governance environments studied in recent CGIR articles that include Australia, Canada, China, Germany, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Vietnam, as well as multicountry studies (e.g., Deloof, Du, & Vanacker, 2020; Desender, LópezPuertas‐Lamy, Pattitoni, & Petracci, 2020; García‐Sánchez & García‐Meca, 2018; Lazzarini & Musacchio, 2018; Qian, Cao, & Cao, 2018; Tribó, 2019; Zhou & Guillén, 2019). Corporate governance research is by no means restricted to the average publicly held corporation but also deals with the unique challenges associated with specific types of firms like, for instance, audit firms (La Rosa, Caserio, & Bernini, 2019), banks (Sheedy & Griffin, 2018), business groups (Shin, Hyun, Oh, & Yang, 2018), closely held firms (Russino, Picone, & Dagnino, 2019), declining firms (Abebe & Tangpong, 2018), entrepreneurial ventures (Pérez‐Calero, Larrañeta, & Wright, 2019), family firms (Yeh & Liao, 2019), foundations (Thomsen, Poulsen, Børsting, & Kuhn, 2018), institutional investors (Semenova & Hassel, 2019), intergovernmental organizations (Federo & Saz‐Carranza, 2018), initial public offerings (IPOs) (González, Guzmán, Tellez‐Falla, & Trujillo, 2019), as well as state‐owned enterprises (Apriliyanti & Randøy, 2019). This research intensity demonstrates the spread of corporate governance studies in multiple disciplines but also leads to higher levels of fragmentation of the field.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…. Corporate governance research is by no means restricted to the average publicly held corporation but also deals with the unique challenges associated with specific types of firms like, for instance, audit firms (La Rosa, Caserio, & Bernini, 2019), banks (Sheedy & Griffin, 2018), business groups (Shin, Hyun, Oh, & Yang, 2018), closely held firms (Russino, Picone, & Dagnino, 2019), declining firms (Abebe & Tangpong, 2018), entrepreneurial ventures (Pérez-Calero, Larrañeta, & Wright, 2019), family firms (Yeh & Liao, 2019), foundations (Thomsen, Poulsen, Børsting, & Kuhn, 2018), institutional investors (Semenova & Hassel, 2019), intergovernmental organizations (Federo & Saz-Carranza, 2018), initial public offerings (IPOs) (González, Guzmán, Tellez-Falla, & Trujillo, 2019), as well as state-owned enterprises (Apriliyanti & Randøy, 2019). This research intensity demonstrates the spread of corporate governance studies in multiple disciplines but also leads to higher levels of fragmentation of the field.…”

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confidence: 99%

Taking stock of corporate governance research and future research opportunities

Stathopoulos

Talaulicar

2020

Corporate Governance

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Research on corporate governance is more popular than ever, and its volume continues to increase tremendously. A clear indicator of this is the steep rise in the number of articles submitted to Corporate Governance: An International Review (CGIR), which this year exceeded 700 submissions for the first time in the 28-year history of the journal. CGIR's mission is to publish cutting-edge international research on the phenomena of corporate governance throughout the global economy. We define corporate governance broadly as the exercise of power over corporate entities so as to increase the value provided to the organization's various stakeholders, as well as make those stakeholders accountable for acting responsibly with regard to the protection, generation, and distribution of wealth invested in the firm. Corporate governance research is conducted intensively all over the world, built on a broad variety of theories, and based on various methodological approaches to develop and substantiate new insights. The international scope of corporate governance research is indicated by the diverse set of governance environments studied in recent CGIR articles that include

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Private engagement by Nordic institutional investors on environmental, social, and governance risks in global companies

Cited by 35 publications

References 59 publications

Does good governance mean better corporate social performance? A comparative study of OECD countries

Does good governance mean better corporate social performance? A comparative study of OECD countries

Successful private investor activism in an emerging market

Taking stock of corporate governance research and future research opportunities

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