Corporate Socio-political Activism and Retail Investors: Evidence from the Black Lives Matter Campaign

This study investigates retail investor responses to corporate engagement in corporate socio-political activism (CSA). Using manually collected evidence of companies’ support for the Black Lives Matter (BLM) campaign, we find that speaking up in support of BLM attracts retail investor attention. However, it influences their investment decisions only if speaking up is backed up by a monetary donation to BLM-related causes on the same day. This effect is observed for companies that have black directors on their board and companies headquartered in Democrat-leaning states. There is no corresponding increase in firm value. Our results suggest that retail investor preferences for companies that engage in CSA are likely guided by moral sentiment

Realizing Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards

This study examines the effectiveness of soft law through scrutinizing national policies for enhancing the proportion of women on corporate boards. While using soft laws, which have less precision and obligation dimensions than conventional laws, is widespread within financial regulation, the relative performance of soft laws is unexplored. To resolve this, we undertake a comparative examination of 14,012 firms from 99 nations, using a three-stage analysis to examine the effect of different policies, their format and influence of institutional factors on female board representation. We report that soft laws are effective for promoting gender equality on corporate boards and the effectiveness of policies is strongly influenced by the enforcement, implementation and compliance dimensions of policy, and institutional factors. Policies are most potent when enforced using a moderate level of sanctions, with a longer compliance period and a diversity target less distant from a firm’s precedent gender diversity level

DOES IT ALWAYS PAY TO PAY YOUR INVESTMENT BANKER? DISTRACTED ADVISORS AND THE PERFORMANCE OF SMALL M&A DEALS BEFORE AND AFTER THE FINANCIAL CRISIS

This paper provides new evidence on the role of financial advisors in M&As. We examine how the value added by financial advisors to small and medium M&A transactions changed after the financial crisis. We show that before the crisis financial advisors prioritised large deals at the expenses of small M&A transactions. The involvement in a very large and complex deal hindered the ability of financial advisors to create value for the smaller transactions they were also assisting. However, after the crisis, this effect disappears especially in deals advised by large investment banks which merged with large financial conglomerates in the wake of the financial crisis. Our findings suggest that the financial crisis, and the resulting reorganisation of the banking sector, substantially changed the business models of financial advisors in M&As

Realizing Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards

This study examines the effectiveness of soft law through scrutinizing national policies for enhancing the proportion of women on corporate boards. While using soft laws, which have less precision and obligation dimensions than conventional laws, is widespread within financial regulation, the relative performance of soft laws is unexplored. To resolve this, we undertake a comparative examination of 14,012 firms from 99 nations, using a three-stage analysis to examine the effect of different policies, their format and influence of institutional factors on female board representation. We report that soft laws are effective for promoting gender equality on corporate boards and the effectiveness of policies is strongly influenced by the enforcement, implementation and compliance dimensions of policy, and institutional factors. Policies are most potent when enforced using a moderate level of sanctions, with a longer compliance period and a diversity target less distant from a firm’s precedent gender diversity level

Realizing Gender Diversity on Corporate Boards

This study examines the effectiveness of soft law through scrutinizing national policies for enhancing the proportion of women on corporate boards. While using soft laws, which have less precision and obligation dimensions than conventional laws, is widespread within financial regulation, the relative performance of soft laws is unexplored. To resolve this, we undertake a comparative examination of 14,012 firms from 99 nations, using a three-stage analysis to examine the effect of different policies, their format and influence of institutional factors on female board representation. We report that soft laws are effective for promoting gender equality on corporate boards and the effectiveness of policies is strongly influenced by the enforcement, implementation and compliance dimensions of policy, and institutional factors. Policies are most potent when enforced using a moderate level of sanctions, with a longer compliance period and a diversity target less distant from a firm’s precedent gender diversity level