Post-Citizens United: Using Shareholder Derivative Claims of Corporate Waste to Challenge Corporate Independent Political Expenditures

Shareholder Power and Corporate Governance

The pattern of ownership and control of British industry is unusual compared with most other countries in that ownership is relatively dispersed. Typically the largest shareholder in any large listed company is likely to own a voting minority of the shares. Majority ownership by a single shareholder is unusual. It is not uncommon for the largest shareholding to be under 20 percent and in many c...

Shareholder Litigation and Corporate Innovation

We examine whether and to what extent shareholder litigation shapes corporate innovation. We use the staggered adoption of the universal demand (UD) laws in 23 states from 1989 to 2005. These laws impose obstacles against shareholders filing derivative lawsuits thereby significantly reducing a firm’s litigation risk. Following the passage of the UD laws, firms have invested more in R&D, produce...

Citizens United, Independent Expenditures, and Agency Costs: Reexamining the Political Economy of State Antitakeover Statutes

We test the agency theory of corporate political activity by examining the association between the legality of independent expenditures and antitakeover lawmaking in theUSstates. Exploiting changes in state law regarding the use of corporate independent expenditures in the pre-Citizens United era, we estimate that a state is more likely to pass antitakeover statutes that entrench management whe...

Distance Matters! Shareholder Proximity and Corporate Policies

This paper investigates whether proximity to institutional shareholders influences corporate policies. We find that firms with high local institutional ownership are more profitable, less risky, and have a better governance structure. Specifically, these firms are less likely to engage in undesirable corporate activities such as aggressive earnings management or option back-dating and are there...

Globalization and Corporate Political Unity