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Demand for CSR: Insights from Shareholder Proposals

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  • Giovanna Michelon
  • Michelle Rodrigue

Abstract

Motivated by the increasing popularity and attention shareholder proposals on corporate social responsibility (CSR) attract, the purpose of this study is to provide a detailed portrayal of shareholders' demands for CSR through their proposals. To this end, we conduct a descriptive longitudinal study of the CSR proposals submitted to US corporations for the fiscal years 1996-2009. We use a unique coding process in which we identify both the CSR area of concern to the shareholders and the desired effect the proposal is intended to stimulate on the corporation. Our findings expose how shareholders engage with corporations mostly around the issues of governance and environment, requesting more transparency from the companies but also improved actions or business decisions. Firms from a wide range of industries are targeted, with their levels of CSR performance, profitability and size attracting different kinds of requests in terms of CSR areas and expected outcomes for the corporation. Shareholders can be relatively intense in their requests for CSR, with the majority of firms in our sample being targeted with more than one proposal annually. Our study deepens our understanding of shareholders' concerns and requests for improvements in CSR.

Suggested Citation

  • Giovanna Michelon & Michelle Rodrigue, 2015. "Demand for CSR: Insights from Shareholder Proposals," Social and Environmental Accountability Journal, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(3), pages 157-175, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:seaccj:v:35:y:2015:i:3:p:157-175
    DOI: 10.1080/0969160X.2015.1094396
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Cullinan, Charles P. & Mahoney, Lois & Roush, Pamela B., 2017. "Are CSR activities associated with shareholder voting in director elections and say-on-pay votes?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 225-243.
    2. Michelon, Giovanna & Rodrigue, Michelle & Trevisan, Elisabetta, 2020. "The marketization of a social movement: Activists, shareholders and CSR disclosure," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    3. Kentaro Azuma & Akira Higashida, 2024. "Climate change disclosure and evolving institutional investor salience: Roles of the Principles for Responsible Investment," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(4), pages 3669-3686, May.
    4. Adriana Barbeito‐Caamaño & Ricardo Chalmeta, 2020. "Using big data to evaluate corporate social responsibility and sustainable development practices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2831-2848, November.
    5. Yuming Zhang & Fan Yang, 2021. "Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: Responding to Investors’ Criticism on Social Media," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(14), pages 1-27, July.
    6. Nicolas Garcia‐Torea & Belen Fernandez‐Feijoo & Marta De La Cuesta, 2020. "CSR reporting communication: Defective reporting models or misapplication?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(2), pages 952-968, March.
    7. Ivan Diaz-Rainey & Paul A. Griffin & David H. Lont & Antonio J. Mateo-Márquez & Constancio Zamora-Ramírez, 2024. "Shareholder Activism on Climate Change: Evolution, Determinants, and Consequences," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(3), pages 481-510, September.
    8. Hien Thi Thuc Nguyen & Subhan Ullah & Hanh Thi My Le & Affan Hameed, 2023. "Sustainability Targets in Executive Remuneration Contracts and Corporate Sustainability Performance in the United Kingdom and European Union," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 393-415, September.
    9. Eunice S. Khoo & Li Chen & Gary S. Monroe, 2023. "Shareholder election of CSR committee members and its effects on CSR performance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3-4), pages 716-763, March.
    10. Jochen Theis & Marvin Nipper, 2021. "The Impact of Executives’ Gender, Financial Incentives, and Shareholder Pressure on Corporate Social and Ecological Investments," Schmalenbach Journal of Business Research, Springer, vol. 73(3), pages 307-338, December.

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