The Evolving Landscape of Corporate Governance: Collective Action, Proxy Advisors, and Shareholder Democracy
Dr. Yingzhen Li, a Principal at The Brattle Group who specializes in economic consulting for complex financial instruments and corporate governance, is joined by Professor Nadya Malenko of Boston College, a leading finance scholar and two-time winner of The Brattle Group Prize in Corporate Finance. Together, they explore theoretical corporate governance, with a focus on collective action problems among shareholders.
Nadya shares insights from her Brattle Prize-winning papers, delving into how trading and shareholder diversity influence corporate decision-making, and why prices and shareholder welfare can sometimes move in opposite directions. The discussion also addresses the role of event studies in assessing governance, the sometimes-counterintuitive impacts of reducing trading frictions, and the growing influence of index funds.
Yingzhen and Nadya further examine the economics of proxy advisory firms, discussing the balance between informed voting and potential overreliance on common signals. Nadya concludes by highlighting the trend toward decentralization in large asset managers and raises emerging questions about the future of corporate governance.
The two Brattle Prize-winning articles – both published in The Journal of Finance – referenced in the episode can be found here (“Trading and Shareholder Democracy”) and here (“Proxy Advisory Firms: The Economics of Selling Information to Voters.”)
