%0 Journal Article 
%A Diaz Rainey, Ivan
%A Griffin, Paul A.
%A Lont, David H.
%A Mateo Márquez, Antonio Jesús
%A Zamora Ramirez, Constancio
%T Shareholder Activism on Climate Change: Evolution, Determinants, and Consequences
%D 2023
%@ 0167-4544
%U http://hdl.handle.net/10498/31351
%X We study 944 shareholder proposals submitted to 343 U.S. frms on climate change issues during 2009–2022. We use logistic and two-stage regression to estimate the propensity for a frm to be targeted or subjected to a vote at the annual general
meeting and, for voted proposals, the determinants of that vote. We also examine whether climate-related proposals afect
investor returns and how they relate to frms’ future environmental performance and greenhouse gas emissions. Compared
to a matched sample, we frst fnd that activists target larger, more carbon-intensive, and less R&D-active frms. Second,
voting likelihood is higher for frms with repeated and operations-related proposals and lower pre-proposal environmental
ratings. By contrast, disclosure-related proposals are likelier to be negotiated and withdrawn. Third, repeated and operationsrelated proposals receive higher votes in favor, whereas votes on carbon-intensive frms do not. Fourth, building on the
theory that investors act as if they distinguish among the diferent shareholder proposals based on the expected cost to the
frm, we fnd evidence to support this idea. We fnd that investors respond negatively to ex-ante costlier proposals, such as
those that relate to emissions reduction and target carbon-intensive frms. Fifth, targets’ future environmental performance
rating is almost twenty percent higher after a proposal than before compared to the matched sample, whereas emissions do
not budge appreciably.
%K Climate action
%K Shareholder proposals
%K Ethical shareholders
%K Market response
%~ Universidad de Cádiz