TY  - UNPD
A1  - Auzepy, Alix
A1  - Bannier, Christina E.
A1  - Martin, Fabio
T1  - Walk the talk: shareholders' soft engagement at annual general meetings
N2  - The right to ask questions and voice their opinions at annual general meetings (AGMs) represents one of the few avenues for shareholders to communicate directly and publicly with the firm’s management. Examining AGM transcripts of U.S. companies between 2007 and 2021, we find that shareholders actively express their concerns about environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in accordance with their specific relationship with the company. Further, they are also demonstrably more vocal about ESG issues at AGMs of firms with poor sustainability performance. What is more, we show that this soft engagement translates into a more negative tone which, in turn, results in lower approval rates for management proposals. Shareholders' soft engagement at AGMs is hence an effective way to "walk the talk".
T3  - CFS working paper series - No. 689 
KW  - shareholder engagement
KW  - annual general meeting
KW  - ESG
KW  - textual analysis
Y1  - 2023
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/68145
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-681456
UR  - https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4363122
PB  - Center for Financial Studies
CY  - Frankfurt, M.
ER  -