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Unleashing the Power of Networks: Shareholder Activism, Sustainable Development and Corporate Environmental Policy

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  • Aimei Yang
  • Nur Uysal
  • Maureen Taylor

Abstract

In recent years, a new trend has emerged in which shareholder activists have formed networks to empower shareholders and magnify shareholder voices. This study explores the structural patterns and effectiveness of shareholder activism networks and shows how those networks affect corporate sustainability policies. We draw upon stakeholder influence theory, stakeholder network management theory and recent studies on activism networks to examine a shareholder activism network formed around environmental issues. The study found that (1) the structure of shareholder activist networks is largely driven by organizational attributes such as organization type, organizations’ human resources, media visibility and history; and (2) activist organizations with high centralities and eigenvector centralities enjoy more efficient results. This study contributes to our understanding of the business responses to shareholder demands on improving environmental performance and paves the way for future research on sustainable development through partnerships with shareholder networks. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

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  • Aimei Yang & Nur Uysal & Maureen Taylor, 2018. "Unleashing the Power of Networks: Shareholder Activism, Sustainable Development and Corporate Environmental Policy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(6), pages 712-727, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:27:y:2018:i:6:p:712-727
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2026
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    Cited by:

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    2. Mercedes Alda, 2019. "Corporate sustainability and institutional shareholders: The pressure of social responsible pension funds on environmental firm practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(6), pages 1060-1071, September.
    3. Ringe Wolf-Georg, 2023. "Investor Empowerment for Sustainability," Review of Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 74(1), pages 21-52, April.
    4. Yunyue Zhou & Chengli Shu & Wei Jiang & Shanxing Gao, 2019. "Green management, firm innovations, and environmental turbulence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 567-581, May.
    5. Khan, Muhammad Arif & Khan, Ashraf & Hassan, M. Kabir & Maraghini, Maria Pia, 2024. "Market response to environmental social and governance performance: A global analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    6. Lu, Jing & Qiu, Yuhang, 2024. "Does minority shareholder activism reduce stock idiosyncratic risk?," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(PA).
    7. Shailesh Rastogi & Kuldeep Singh & Jagjeevan Kanoujiya, 2024. "Impact of Shareholders’ Activism on the Performance of Banks in India: A Panel Data Application," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 12(1), pages 83-99, January.
    8. Yanlin Ma & Yuting Liu & Andrea Appolloni & Junqi Liu, 2021. "Does green public procurement encourage firm's environmental certification practice? The mediation role of top management support," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 1002-1017, May.
    9. Kostaris, Konstantinos & Andrikopoulos, Andreas, 2023. "Brokers in beneficial ownership: A network approach," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Andrew Peterman & Arno Kourula & Raymond Levitt, 2020. "Organizational roles in a sustainability alliance network," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3314-3330, December.
    11. Pascal Back & Oskar Colombo, 2022. "Shaping CEOs’ future focus through shareholder activism: the role of proposal characteristics," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(1), pages 255-286, March.

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