Resumen de Shareholder engagement: from activism to corporate change
This thesis explores the role of shareholder engagement in inducing changes in firms' environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices and in affecting firms' financial performances. The first chapter articulates the mechanisms by which investors develop their long-term dialogues with firms and produce changes in corporate practices. The second chapter explores the interrelations between shareholder engagement and external activism i.e. activism by community activists, religious organizations, and non-governmental organizations in producing such changes. The third chapter assesses the consequences of such interrelations on firms long-term financial performances. I test these mechanisms with a unique proprietary database of 169 ESG engagements with US public firms over the period 2007-2012 and with a proprietary database of public protests targeting Fortune 500 firms during the years 2006-2012.
