corporate governance research paper topics

Corporate Governance Research Paper Topics

This guide provides a comprehensive list of corporate governance research paper topics divided into 10 categories, expert advice on choosing a relevant and feasible topic, and tips on how to write a successful corporate governance research paper. Corporate governance is a critical aspect of modern business that has a significant impact on the success of organizations. As a result, students who study corporate governance are often assigned to write research papers that explore various aspects of the topic. In addition, iResearchNet offers custom writing services that provide expert degree-holding writers, customized solutions, and timely delivery. By using this guide and iResearchNet’s writing services, students can ensure that their corporate governance research papers meet the highest academic standards.

Corporate Governance Research

Corporate governance is a critical aspect of modern business that encompasses the practices, processes, and systems by which organizations are directed, controlled, and managed. As a result, students who study corporate governance are often assigned to write research papers that explore various aspects of the topic, ranging from board structures and executive compensation to shareholder activism and stakeholder engagement.

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In this guide, we provide a comprehensive list of corporate governance research paper topics divided into 10 categories, expert advice on how to choose a relevant and feasible topic, and tips on how to write a successful corporate governance research paper. In addition, we offer custom writing services through iResearchNet that provide expert degree-holding writers, customized solutions, and timely delivery.

By using this guide and iResearchNet’s writing services, students can ensure that their corporate governance research papers are well-researched, well-written, and meet the highest academic standards.

100 Corporate Governance Research Paper Topics

Corporate governance is a broad and complex topic that encompasses a wide range of issues and challenges facing modern organizations. To help students choose a relevant and feasible corporate governance research paper topic, we have divided our comprehensive list of topics into 10 categories, each with 10 topics.

Board of Directors

• Board independence and effectiveness
• Board diversity and gender equality
• CEO duality and separation of roles
• Board composition and characteristics
• Board oversight and accountability
• Board nominations and elections
• Board leadership and culture
• Board committees and responsibilities
• Board evaluation and performance
• Board compensation and incentives

Executive Compensation

• Executive pay and performance
• Executive pay and firm performance
• Pay-for-performance and pay-for-skill
• CEO pay ratios and pay equity
• Stock options and equity-based compensation
• Executive severance and golden parachutes
• Executive perquisites and benefits
• Executive retirement and pensions
• Say-on-pay and shareholder activism
• Institutional investors and executive pay

Shareholder Activism

• Shareholder rights and activism
• Shareholder proposals and proxy access
• Shareholder engagement and communication
• Shareholder activism and corporate social responsibility
• Institutional investors and shareholder activism
• Hedge funds and shareholder activism
• Shareholder activism and executive compensation
• Shareholder activism and board independence
• Shareholder activism and corporate governance reforms
• Shareholder activism and CEO turnover

Stakeholder Engagement

• Stakeholder identification and analysis
• Stakeholder mapping and prioritization
• Stakeholder communication and dialogue
• Stakeholder participation and empowerment
• Stakeholder consultation and feedback
• Stakeholder engagement and corporate social responsibility
• Stakeholder engagement and sustainability reporting
• Stakeholder engagement and risk management
• Stakeholder engagement and corporate reputation
• Stakeholder engagement and value creation

Corporate Culture and Ethics

• Corporate values and ethics
• Ethical leadership and decision-making
• Corporate social responsibility and sustainability
• Business ethics and compliance
• Corporate citizenship and philanthropy
• Corporate culture and values alignment
• Corporate culture and employee behavior
• Corporate culture and organizational performance
• Corporate culture and innovation
• Corporate culture and risk management

Board-Shareholder Relations

• Board-shareholder communication and engagement
• Board-shareholder conflict resolution
• Board-shareholder cooperation and collaboration
• Board-shareholder activism and response
• Board-shareholder rights and responsibilities
• Board-shareholder agreements and charters
• Board-shareholder engagement and corporate social responsibility
• Board-shareholder relations and institutional investors
• Board-shareholder relations and minority shareholders
• Board-shareholder relations and corporate governance reforms

Regulatory and Legal Environment

• Corporate governance regulations and compliance
• Corporate governance laws and policies
• Corporate governance codes and standards
• Corporate governance enforcement and penalties
• Corporate governance and public policy
• Corporate governance and the role of regulators
• Corporate governance and antitrust laws
• Corporate governance and securities laws
• Corporate governance and data privacy laws
• Corporate governance and intellectual property laws

Risk Management and Disclosure

• Enterprise risk management and oversight
• Risk management and strategic planning
• Risk management and financial reporting
• Risk management and sustainability reporting
• Risk management and cybersecurity
• Risk management and climate change
• Risk management and supply chain management
• Risk management and crisis management
• Risk management and stakeholder engagement
• Risk management and disclosure requirements

International Corporate Governance

• Cross-border mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance
• Corporate governance and foreign direct investment
• Corporate governance and multinational corporations
• Corporate governance and global supply chains
• Corporate governance and global financial markets
• Corporate governance and emerging markets
• Corporate governance and corruption
• Corporate governance and cultural diversity
• Corporate governance and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals
• Corporate governance and global challenges

Corporate Governance Reform

• Corporate governance failures and scandals
• Corporate governance reforms and their impact
• Corporate governance and shareholder activism
• Corporate governance and executive compensation reform
• Corporate governance and board independence reform
• Corporate governance and stakeholder engagement reform
• Corporate governance and diversity and inclusion reform
• Corporate governance and sustainability reform
• Corporate governance and regulatory reform
• Corporate governance and future trends

By organizing the corporate governance research paper topics into categories, students can easily identify areas of interest and develop research questions that align with their academic goals and interests. The categories cover a wide range of issues and challenges facing modern organizations, from board structures and executive compensation to stakeholder engagement and international corporate governance.

Choosing a Topic in Corporate Governance

Choosing a relevant and feasible corporate governance research paper topic is critical for success in academia. The following are expert tips on how to choose a corporate governance research paper topic:

• Consider your interests : Choose a topic that you are interested in and passionate about. Your enthusiasm for the topic will help you stay motivated throughout the research and writing process.
• Identify a research gap : Choose a topic that fills a research gap or addresses a new research question. This will help you contribute new knowledge to the field and make a meaningful contribution to academic scholarship.
• Consult with your instructor : Discuss potential topics with your instructor and seek feedback on your ideas. Your instructor can help you refine your research question and suggest relevant literature and sources.
• Conduct a literature review : Conduct a literature review to identify gaps and areas of interest within the field. This will help you develop research questions and identify key concepts and themes.
• Consider feasibility : Choose a topic that is feasible given the time and resources available to you. Be realistic about your research scope and the data sources that are available to you.
• Stay current : Choose a topic that is current and relevant to the field. This will help you stay up-to-date on the latest trends and developments in corporate governance.
• Identify a manageable scope : Choose a topic that has a manageable scope. Narrow down your research question to a specific aspect of corporate governance that can be explored in-depth within the scope of a research paper.
• Brainstorm potential topics : Brainstorm a list of potential topics based on your interests, literature review, and discussions with your instructor. Evaluate each topic based on its relevance, feasibility, and potential impact.

By following these expert tips, students can choose a relevant and feasible corporate governance research paper topic that aligns with their academic interests and goals. In the next section, we provide tips on how to write a successful corporate governance research paper.

How to Write a Corporate Governance Research Paper

Writing a successful corporate governance research paper requires careful planning and attention to detail. The following are expert tips on how to write a corporate governance research paper:

• Develop a clear research question : Develop a clear and concise research question that addresses a gap or new research question within the field of corporate governance. The research question should be specific and focused to ensure a manageable scope for the research paper.
• Conduct a literature review : Conduct a comprehensive literature review to identify key concepts and themes within the field of corporate governance. This will help you develop a theoretical framework and provide a foundation for your research paper.
• Select appropriate research methods : Select appropriate research methods that align with your research question and objectives. This may include qualitative, quantitative, or mixed-methods research approaches.
• Collect and analyze data : Collect and analyze data using appropriate research methods. This may include conducting interviews, surveys, or analyzing financial data. Ensure that your data collection and analysis is rigorous and aligns with the research question and objectives.
• Develop a clear and structured outline : Develop a clear and structured outline for your research paper. This will help you organize your thoughts and ideas and ensure a logical flow of information.
• Write a clear and concise introduction : Write a clear and concise introduction that provides background information and context for the research question. The introduction should also clearly state the research question and objectives.
• Develop a comprehensive literature review : Develop a comprehensive literature review that provides a theoretical framework for the research question. The literature review should be organized thematically and include key concepts and themes within the field of corporate governance.
• Analyze and interpret findings : Analyze and interpret the findings of the research. Ensure that your analysis and interpretation aligns with the research question and objectives.
• Develop a clear and concise conclusion : Develop a clear and concise conclusion that summarizes the key findings of the research and provides implications for practice and future research.
• Ensure proper formatting and citation : Ensure that your research paper is properly formatted and cited. Follow the guidelines of the citation style required by your instructor, such as APA, MLA, or Chicago.

By following these expert tips, students can write a successful corporate governance research paper that contributes new knowledge to the field and makes a meaningful contribution to academic scholarship. In the next section, we provide information on how students can benefit from the iResearchNet writing services for corporate governance research papers.

iResearchNet Writing Services for Corporate Governance Research Papers

At iResearchNet, we understand the importance of producing high-quality corporate governance research papers that meet the academic standards of students. Our team of expert degree-holding writers can help students produce well-written and well-researched corporate governance research papers that meet the requirements of their instructors. Our writing services include the following features:

• Expert degree-holding writers : Our writers are experts in corporate governance with advanced degrees in the field. They have the knowledge and expertise to produce high-quality research papers that meet the academic standards of students.
• Custom written works : We provide custom written works that are tailored to the specific needs and requirements of each student. Our writers work closely with students to ensure that their research papers meet their expectations and academic standards.
• In-depth research : Our writers conduct in-depth research to ensure that the research papers are well-supported with relevant and reliable sources.
• Custom formatting : Our writers are well-versed in various citation styles, including APA, MLA, Chicago/Turabian, and Harvard. We ensure that the research papers are properly formatted and cited according to the required citation style.
• Top quality, customized solutions : We are committed to providing top-quality and customized solutions that meet the unique needs and requirements of each student.
• Flexible pricing : We offer flexible pricing options to ensure that our writing services are affordable for students.
• Short deadlines : We can accommodate short deadlines of up to 3 hours for urgent assignments.
• Timely delivery : We ensure timely delivery of research papers to ensure that students have enough time to review and submit their assignments.
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Writing a successful corporate governance research paper requires careful planning and attention to detail. By choosing a relevant and feasible research paper topic, conducting a comprehensive literature review, and following the tips outlined in this article, students can produce high-quality research papers that make meaningful contributions to the field of corporate governance. Additionally, iResearchNet writing services offer students a valuable resource for producing high-quality research papers that meet the academic standards of their instructors. With expert degree-holding writers, customized solutions, and a range of support features, iResearchNet can help students achieve academic success and excel in their studies. Contact us today to learn more about our writing services and how we can assist you in your corporate governance research paper writing needs.

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Home » Blog » Dissertation » Topics » Corporate Governance » Corporate Governance Dissertation Topics (28 Examples) For Research

Corporate Governance Dissertation Topics (28 Examples) For Research

Mark Aug 21, 2021 Aug 12, 2021 Corporate Governance No Comments

Corporate governance refers to the code of conduct for global business corporations. It is important for businesses to act responsibly and contribute to the betterment of society and people. As the concept of corporate governance has emerged, the scope and area for research have increased. We provide you with a list of corporate governance dissertation […]

Corporate governance refers to the code of conduct for global business corporations. It is important for businesses to act responsibly and contribute to the betterment of society and people. As the concept of corporate governance has emerged, the scope and area for research have increased. We provide you with a list of corporate governance dissertation topics.

The research topics on corporate governance and project topic on corporate governance are listed to help students in selecting a topic for their research and thesis. We have sorted down some of the most interesting corporate governance dissertation topics and can provide you with a brief on the selected topic.

A list Of Corporate Governance Dissertation Topics

A comparison of corporate governance policies and practices in the years 2010 to 2020.

Studying the impact of corporate governance practices on the management and leadership styles.

Identifying the most effective corporate governance strategies and its impact on organizational reputation.

An integrated analysis of the corporate governance practices in developing countries.

To investigate the impact of corporate governance policies and their implementation on the monetary success of large businesses.

Analysing the competence of corporate governance in a state-owned enterprise in the UK.

Comparing the policies of corporate social responsibility and its causes and effects.

Can effective corporate governance contribute to dealing with the global recession?

Studying the role of audit practices in corporate governance.

Evaluation of corporate governance regulations in the US and the UK.

Studying the importance of ethics in corporate governance taking a real-life case example.

A literature review on the corporate governance in a family-based business.

To study the impact of corporate governance on earning management in SMEs.

How does corporate governance affect the financial performance and financial stability of a business?

Studying the board attributes and corporate social responsibility disclosure.

Investigating the relationship between corporate governance and operating cash flow.

How does effective corporate governance help in building and maintaining relationships with the strategic partners?

To study the impact of ownership structure and corporate governance on the success of a business.

Does effective internal audit help in developing corporate governance policies and regulations?

To investigate the effect of accounting conservatism and corporate governance on tax avoidance.

Studying the impact of corporate governance on voluntary risk disclosure in large businesses in the UK.

The relationship between corporate governance and enterprise risks in the banking industry.

The contribution of innovation in enhancing corporate governance in organisations.

The importance of developing a code of conduct to manage organisational behaviour.

A literature review on corporate governance and its growing importance.

Studying and comparing the laws and policies related to corporate governance in the UK and the United States.

What is the role of corporate governance in the case of blockchain technology?

The role of corporate governance in long-term competitiveness based on value-added measures.

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101 trending corporate governance dissertation topics & research ideas.

• Dissertation

Writing a dissertation on corporate governance delves into the intricate mechanisms and structures that govern the relationships among stakeholders within a company. This academic pursuit involves a comprehensive exploration of rules, practices, and processes that ensure ethical decision-making, transparency, and accountability in corporate environments. A corporate governance dissertation is a scholarly endeavor that critically examines the governance frameworks companies employ to balance the interests of diverse stakeholders, including shareholders, executives, employees, and the broader community.

The landscape of corporate governance is multifaceted, encompassing aspects such as board structures, shareholder activism, executive compensation, ethical considerations, and the impact of regulatory frameworks. As an academic undertaking, a dissertation in corporate governance seeks to contribute new insights, address gaps in existing knowledge, and provide a nuanced understanding of the complexities inherent in governing modern corporations.

The research journey often begins with a thorough review of existing literature, which establishes the theoretical foundation and contextualizes the study within the broader field of corporate governance. Methodologically, researchers may employ various approaches, including case studies, surveys, interviews, or quantitative analyses, to investigate specific aspects of corporate governance practices.

101 Unique Corporate Governance Dissertation Topics

Here is a list of 101 potential corporate governance dissertation topics across various dimensions of the field. Please note that these topics are broad, and you may need to refine them based on your specific interests and the focus of your academic program:

• The Impact of Board Diversity on Corporate Performance
• Corporate Governance and Financial Reporting Quality
• Shareholder Activism and Corporate Governance
• The Role of Institutional Investors in Corporate Governance
• Executive Compensation and Firm Performance
• Corporate Governance in Family-Owned Businesses
• The Influence of Corporate Governance on Mergers and Acquisitions
• Board Independence and Firm Value
• Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR)
• The Effect of CEO Duality on Corporate Governance
• The Role of Auditors in Corporate Governance
• Governance Mechanisms in Emerging Markets
• Corporate Governance and Risk Management
• Regulatory Impact on Corporate Governance Practices
• Shareholder Rights and Corporate Governance
• The Relationship Between Corporate Governance and Corporate Fraud
• Impact of Corporate Governance on Innovation
• Governance Challenges in Multinational Corporations
• Board Effectiveness and Corporate Governance
• The Role of Board Committees in Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance and Corporate Ethics
• The Impact of Corporate Governance on Firm Bankruptcy
• Stakeholder Theory and Corporate Governance
• The Role of Government in Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance in Nonprofit Organizations
• Corporate Governance in the Banking Sector
• Comparative Analysis of Corporate Governance Models
• Corporate Governance in Technology Companies
• The Effect of Globalization on Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance and Firm Resilience
• The Relationship Between Corporate Governance and Environmental Sustainability
• Governance Practices in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs)
• Corporate Governance and Initial Public Offerings (IPOs)
• The Impact of Board Size on Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance and Shareholder Value Creation
• The Role of Leadership in Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance and Firm Reputation
• Board Turnover and Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance and Corporate Culture
• The Effect of Ownership Structure on Corporate Governance
• The Role of Technology in Enhancing Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance and Corporate Citizenship
• The Influence of Institutional Environment on Corporate Governance
• Board Tenure and Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance and Dividend Policy
• The Relationship Between Corporate Governance and Corporate Tax Avoidance
• Governance Challenges in State-Owned Enterprises
• The Impact of Activist Investors on Corporate Governance
• The Role of Corporate Governance in Financial Crises
• Corporate Governance in the Healthcare Sector
• The Influence of Cultural Factors on Corporate Governance Practices
• Governance Challenges in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs)
• Corporate Governance in the Energy Industry
• The Effect of Corporate Governance on Earnings Management
• Board Evaluation and Corporate Governance
• Corporate Governance in the Hospitality Industry
• The Role of Technology in Improving Corporate Governance Transparency
• The Impact of Corporate Governance on Firm Reputation
• Governance Practices in the Pharmaceutical Sector
• Corporate Governance and the Adoption of Sustainable Business Practices
• The Relationship Between Corporate Governance and Innovation Performance
• Governance Challenges in the Nonprofit Sector
• Corporate Governance and Intellectual Property Management
• The Role of Corporate Governance in Corporate Scandals
• The Influence of Ownership Concentration on Corporate Governance
• Governance Practices in the Retail Industry
• Corporate Governance and Cybersecurity Risk Management
• The Effect of Board Gender Diversity on Corporate Governance
• Governance Challenges in the Educational Sector
• Corporate Governance and Business Ethics
• The Impact of Corporate Governance on Employee Relations
• Governance Practices in the Real Estate Industry
• The Role of Corporate Governance in Digital Transformation
• The Relationship Between Corporate Governance and Supply Chain Management
• Governance Challenges in the Transportation Sector
• Corporate Governance and Financial Inclusion
• The Influence of Political Factors on Corporate Governance
• Governance Practices in the Agricultural Sector
• Corporate Governance and Customer Relations
• The Effect of Corporate Governance on Corporate Philanthropy
• Governance Challenges in the Entertainment Industry
• The Role of Corporate Governance in Crisis Management
• Corporate Governance and the Adoption of Emerging Technologies
• Governance Practices in the Fashion Industry
• The Impact of Corporate Governance on Entrepreneurial Firms
• The Relationship Between Corporate Governance and Corporate Branding
• Governance Challenges in the Aerospace Industry
• Corporate Governance and Supply Chain Sustainability
• The Role of Corporate Governance in Digital Marketing
• Governance Practices in the Renewable Energy Sector
• Corporate Governance and Franchise Management
• The Influence of Social Media on Corporate Governance
• Governance Challenges in the Telecommunications Industry
• The Effect of Corporate Governance on Customer Satisfaction
• Corporate Governance and Blockchain Technology
• The Relationship Between Corporate Governance and E-commerce
• Governance Practices in the Biotechnology Industry
• The Impact of Corporate Governance on Employee Motivation
• Corporate Governance and Product Innovation
• The Role of Corporate Governance in ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) Investing
• Governance Challenges in the Artificial Intelligence Industry

When choosing a dissertation topic, consider your interests, the relevance to your academic program, and the availability of resources for research. Additionally, consult with your advisor to ensure that the chosen topic aligns with the requirements and expectations of your doctoral program.

If you need assistance in writing your Corporate Governance Dissertation, please send your requirement to [email protected] and get instant Corporate Governance Dissertation Help .

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A Guide to the Big Ideas and Debates in Corporate Governance

• Lynn S. Paine
• Suraj Srinivasan

The questions that boards, managers, and shareholders should be asking.

How corporations govern themselves has become a matter of broad public interest in recent decades. Amid this many commentators and experts still disagree on such basic matters as the purpose of the corporation, the role of corporate boards of directors, the rights of shareholders, and the proper way to measure corporate performance. The issue of how shareholder interests should be considered in corporate decision making is particularly contentious. This article is a resource for understanding today’s key debates around governance and identifying the main areas in which changes are being called for. Many readers are grappling with these questions now or may have to address in the near future; in any case, the debates are sure to affect how business operates across the globe.

Corporate governance has become a topic of broad public interest as the power of institutional investors has increased and the impact of corporations on society has grown. Yet ideas about how corporations should be governed vary widely. People disagree, for example, on such basic matters as the purpose of the corporation, the role of corporate boards of directors, the rights of shareholders, and the proper way to measure corporate performance. The issue of whose interests should be considered in corporate decision making is particularly contentious, with some authorities giving primacy to shareholders’ interest in maximizing their financial returns and others arguing that shareholders’ other interests — in corporate strategy, executive compensation, and environmental policies, for example — and the interests of other parties must be respected as well.

• Lynn S. Paine is a Baker Foundation Professor and the John G. McLean Professor of Business Administration, Emerita, at Harvard Business School.
• Suraj Srinivasan is the Philip J. Stomberg Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and Chair of the Digital Value Lab at Harvard’s Digital, Data and Design Institute.

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Corporate Governance Characteristics and Involvement in ESG Activities: Current Trends and Research Directions

34 Pages Posted: 22 Jul 2023 Last revised: 31 Aug 2023

Anand Kumar

Dublin City University

Tatiana Garanina

University of Vaasa; Vaasan yliopisto (University of Vaasa)

Mikko Ranta

University of Vaasa

Corporate governance characteristics represent a critical element that affects firms’ outcomes. During the last two decades, researchers have investigated the link between different governance characteristics and firms’ involvement in ESG activities. This paper provides a structured literature review on the topic with a focus on papers published in accounting and finance journals. The corpus comprises 180 academic papers from two ranked journal lists, the Association of Business Schools (ABS) and the Australian Business Deans Council (ABDC). Our analysis combines a structured literature review with citation analysis, topic-modelling using a Machine Learning (ML) approach, and a manual review of selected articles. Our unique combined approach towards conducting a literature review allows us to come up with the key research topics in the area, their deep analysis and identification of the current and future research trends. A review of corporate governance and ESG literature suggests a shift towards a more strategic and practically oriented papers.

Keywords: Corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, ESG, machine learning approach, LDA

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

Dublin City University ( email )

Ireland 9 Dublin 9, leinster 9 Ireland

Tatiana Garanina (Contact Author)

University of vaasa ( email ).

P.O. Box 700 Wolffintie 34 Vaasa, FI-65101 Finland

Vaasan yliopisto (University of Vaasa) ( email )

P.O. Box 700 P.O. Box 700 Vaasa, FI-65101 Finland

P.O. Box 700 FIN-65101 Vaasa, FI-65101 Finland

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Corporate governance law ejournal, corporate governance & finance ejournal, io: firm structure, purpose, organization & contracting ejournal, corporate governance: economic consequences, history, development & methodology ejournal, corporate social responsibility (csr) ejournal, econometric modeling: corporate finance & governance ejournal, environmental law & policy ejournal, environmental, social & governance (esg) research hub ejournal.

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Corporate Law & Corporate Governance

Getting started, primary sources, secondary sources, practice materials & study aids, current awareness, corporate data, getting help.

This guide is meant to help you find laws and information on corporate law issues; the goal is to provide useful, but not exhaustive, resources.  If you are looking for resources to research  companies and/or industries, look at this other HLS Guide . 

Research requires analysis and synthesis of information, and no one resource will likely provide sufficient information or data on any given topic.  Cast a broad net first, and then focus on your specific issue.

Some of the main topics involved in corporate governance include executive compensation, board composition, diversity, shareholder engagement, and sustainability.

Keeping that in mind while conducting your research, you may want to explore: 

Laws and regulations governing corporate law

Government agencies controlling corporate law

Practice and study aids, i.e.,  corporate law treatises

News sources, including blogs

Practical and scholarly articles

• Data on executive compensation, shareholder agreements & more

For many of these databases, you will need your Harvard University ID and PIN.  For others, you may need to register to gain access.  If you have any trouble accessing a database, please contact the library.

Subject Guide

Corporation Statutes, Model Laws, and Regulations

• Delaware General Corporation Law Title 8 of the Delaware Code
• Laws that Govern the Securities Industry Including the texts of the Securities Act of 1933, Securities Exchange Act of 1934, Sarbanes-Oxley, and Dodd-Frank.
• Uniform Partnership Act
• Uniform Limited Liability Company Act

• Code of Federal Regulations Title 17 covers the Securities and Exchange Commission
• Business Source Complete (Harvard Login) more... less... The EBSCOhost Interface is optimized for searching articles. The Business Searching Interface facilitates searching other types of documents as well as articles. Business Source Complete is a database of citations to, summaries and full text of articles from academic journals, magazines, and trade publications. Citations, indexing and abstracts for the most important scholarly business journals back to 1886 are included as well as current company, industry and region reports.
• Google Scholar Academic and scientific research papers on the web.

• SSRN's Corporate Governance Research Center The The Corporate Governance Network (CGN) is directed by Lucian Bebchuk, William J. Friedman and Alicia Townsend Friedman Professor of Law, Economics, and Finance, and Director of the Corporate Governance Program, at Harvard Law School, with input and help from other members of the Corporate Governance Program.
• Corporate Governance:  An International Review
• Corporate Governance from the OECD
• Journal of Management and Governance

Google Scholar

Government Regulation & Oversight

• Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC)
• US Senate Committee on Finance
• US House Committee on Financial Services
• European Commission: Corporation Governance Forum

Practice Pages

Practice and Study Aids

• CCH Corporate Governance Guide
• Getting the Deal Through (Lexology) The Getting the Deal Through (GTDT) module of Lexology lets you quickly compare laws across different countries. The Corporate Governance section allows you to compare laws regarding governance, shareholder rights, voting rights & requirements, board structures, reporting requirements and more, across specified international jurisdictions.
• NYSE Corporate Governance: A Practical Guide The NY Stock Exchange has created a guide to help listed companies navigate key corporate governance issues.
• FT.com - The Financial Times Registration required.
• Law360 News
• LexisNexis Legal Newsroom - Corporate
• Delaware Corporate & Commercial Litigation Blog
• New York Times Deal Book
• HLS Forum on Corporate Governance and Financial Regulation
• ISS Governance Insights
• The Race to the Bottom
• The Conference Board Governance Center Blog

Sources of Data

In addition to using the  Bloomberg Law , Westlaw , and Lexis's Intelligize  research platforms, there are a variety of other databases for corporate, and finance-related data. For more information, check out:

• The Library's Research Guide on Statistical and Data-Related Resources  (section on "Business, Corporate, Finance, and Market Data")
• Baker Library Databases
• Baker Library's collection of Fast Answers (a FAQ)

Also check out the information and links below.

• Bloomberg Terminal A Bloomberg Terminal, providing hard financial data, is located in the Research Room (Room #353, located near the Reference Area on the 3rd floor of the Library). Please note you will need to create a separate Bloomberg Terminal account using your HLS email.
• Capital IQ Data on public and private companies, investment firms, capital transactions, and people. Provides sophisticated retrieval and personalization tools to create numerous reports.
• Global Financial Data (GFD) A comprehensive economic and financial time-series database covering 150 countries and 6,500 different data series. GFD includes data on stock markets from 1690, exchange rates from 1590, interest rates from 1700, commodities from 1500, and inflation from 1264. If you don't want to create an account, you can log in anonymously for more limited data access.
• Orbis A global company database that provides extensive data about a company. ORBIS allows you to screen for companies based on geography, financial performance, industry, deals, ownership structure, number of employees, year of incorporation and other criteria; and compare a company to its competitors along multiple dimensions.
• SharkWatch (formerly SharkRepellent) Searchable database of takeover defense intelligence, including more than 200 charter bylaw and poison pill data items covering US publicly traded companies. SharkRepellent is available through the FactSet research platform. Refer to the box below for information on creating a FactSet account.
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• 22 Aug 2024
• Research & Ideas

Reading the Financial Crisis Warning Signs: Credit Markets and the 'Red-Zone'

While fears about slowing economic growth have roiled stock markets in recent weeks, credit markets remain stable and bullish, and a recession hasn't materialized as some analysts predicted. Robin Greenwood discusses the market conditions that are buoying the economy—and risk signals to watch.

• 13 Aug 2024

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• 06 Aug 2024

What the World Could Learn from America's Immigration Backlash—100 Years Ago

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• 23 Jul 2024
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• 18 Jun 2024

Industrial Decarbonization: Confronting the Hard Challenges of Cement

CEOs in construction and heavy industries must prioritize innovative abatement strategies to meet rising global demand for cement while reducing emissions. Research by Gunther Glenk offers an economic framework for identifying emission reduction options.

• 04 Jun 2024

Navigating Consumer Data Privacy in an AI World

Consumers expect companies to do everything they can to protect their personal data, but breaches continue to happen at an alarming rate. Eva Ascarza and Ta-Wei Huang say companies must take bold steps to proactively manage customers’ sensitive data if they want to earn trust and remain competitive.

• 23 Apr 2024
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Amazon in Seattle: The Role of Business in Causing and Solving a Housing Crisis

In 2020, Amazon partnered with a nonprofit called Mary’s Place and used some of its own resources to build a shelter for women and families experiencing homelessness on its campus in Seattle. Yet critics argued that Amazon’s apparent charity was misplaced and that the company was actually making the problem worse. Paul Healy and Debora Spar explore the role business plays in addressing unhoused communities in the case “Hitting Home: Amazon and Mary’s Place.”

• 18 Mar 2024

When It Comes to Climate Regulation, Energy Companies Take a More Nuanced View

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• 04 Mar 2024

Want to Make Diversity Stick? Break the Cycle of Sameness

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• 27 Feb 2024

Why Companies Should Share Their DEI Data (Even When It’s Unflattering)

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• 17 Jan 2024

Are Companies Getting Away with 'Cheap Talk' on Climate Goals?

Many companies set emissions targets with great fanfare—and never meet them, says research by Shirley Lu and colleagues. But what if investors held businesses accountable for achieving their climate plans?

• 09 Jan 2024

Could Clean Hydrogen Become Affordable at Scale by 2030?

The cost to produce hydrogen could approach the $1-per-kilogram target set by US regulators by 2030, helping this cleaner energy source compete with fossil fuels, says research by Gunther Glenk and colleagues. But planned global investments in hydrogen production would need to come to fruition to reach full potential.

• 02 Jan 2024
• What Do You Think?

Do Boomerang CEOs Get a Bad Rap?

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• 28 Nov 2023

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• 07 Nov 2023

How Should Meta Be Governed for the Good of Society?

Julie Owono is executive director of Internet Sans Frontières and a member of the Oversight Board, an outside entity with the authority to make binding decisions on tricky moderation questions for Meta’s companies, including Facebook and Instagram. Harvard Business School visiting professor Jesse Shapiro and Owono break down how the Board governs Meta’s social and political power to ensure that it’s used responsibly, and discuss the Board’s impact, as an alternative to government regulation, in the case, “Independent Governance of Meta’s Social Spaces: The Oversight Board.”

• 06 Jun 2023

The Opioid Crisis, CEO Pay, and Shareholder Activism

In 2020, AmerisourceBergen Corporation, a Fortune 50 company in the drug distribution industry, agreed to settle thousands of lawsuits filed nationwide against the company for its opioid distribution practices, which critics alleged had contributed to the opioid crisis in the US. The $6.6 billion global settlement caused a net loss larger than the cumulative net income earned during the tenure of the company’s CEO, which began in 2011. In addition, AmerisourceBergen’s legal and financial troubles were accompanied by shareholder demands aimed at driving corporate governance changes in companies in the opioid supply chain. Determined to hold the company’s leadership accountable, the shareholders launched a campaign in early 2021 to reject the pay packages of executives. Should the board reduce the executives’ pay, as of means of improving accountability? Or does punishing the AmerisourceBergen executives for paying the settlement ignore the larger issue of a business’s responsibility to society? Harvard Business School professor Suraj Srinivasan discusses executive compensation and shareholder activism in the context of the US opioid crisis in his case, “The Opioid Settlement and Controversy Over CEO Pay at AmerisourceBergen.”

• 02 May 2023

How Should Artificial Intelligence Be Regulated—if at All?

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• 24 Apr 2023

What Does It Take to Build as Much Buzz as Booze? Inside the Epic Challenge of Cannabis-Infused Drinks

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• 21 Apr 2023

The $15 Billion Question: Have Loot Boxes Turned Video Gaming into Gambling?

Critics say loot boxes—major revenue streams for video game companies—entice young players to overspend. Can regulators protect consumers without dampening the thrill of the game? Research by Tomomichi Amano and colleague.

• 31 Mar 2023

Can a ‘Basic Bundle’ of Health Insurance Cure Coverage Gaps and Spur Innovation?

One in 10 people in America lack health insurance, resulting in $40 billion of care that goes unpaid each year. Amitabh Chandra and colleagues say ensuring basic coverage for all residents, as other wealthy nations do, could address the most acute needs and unlock efficiency.

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Innovation Responds to Climate Change Proposals

• Original Paper
• Published: 02 September 2024

Cite this article

• Greg Tindall 1 ,
• Rebel A. Cole 2 &
• David Javakhadze   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-1580-6309 3  

Climate change is an ethical and moral challenge of a global scale due to its potentially catastrophic implications for human welfare. Understanding forces that drive corporate adaptation to climate change is an important research topic in business ethics. In this paper, we propose that shareholder climate-related proposals could be a catalyst for corporate innovations in technologies mitigating climate change. Our results, based on the analysis of US firms, indicate that corporations respond positively to these proposals by producing more climate-related patents and citations. We also uncover potential casual channels of influence. Further, we find that corporate governance moderates the documented effects. These proposals lead to a more efficient and valuable innovation output, but lower firm performance in the short term. The real effect that shareholder proposals have on innovation gains clarity in the context of climate change, contributing to the discussion of investor “voice.”

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Data availability

The data that has been used is confidential, from restricted-access sources.

Xiao and Shailer ( 2022 ) provide a novel systematic investigation of factors influencing stakeholders’ perceptions of the credibility of corporate sustainability reports.

What are shareholder proposals, and what makes them interesting? Established in 1942 (and amended several times), Rule 14a-8 was designed to give small shareholders a voice and managers ample opportunity to listen before being heard at annual meetings. The Rule now permits a shareholder to make a proposal of 500 words or less, if any of the following ownership amount and time requirements are met: 1) at least $2,000 in market value for at least three years; 2) or at least $15,000 for at least two years; 3) or at least $25,000 for at least one year. The proposal must be received at the company’s principal executive offices not less than 120 calendar days before the release of company's annual proxy statement, with shareholder intent to maintain the requisite interest through the annual meeting. For more formation, please see the Code of Federal Regulations, (Title 17, Volume 3, Sect. 240.14a-8, www.govinfo.gov ).

Theoretical perspectives on management’s response to stakeholder demands are influenced by corporate purpose.

Literature presents opposing views: Friedman’s ( 1970 ) profit-focused shareholder priority versus Stout’s ( 2013 )

inclusive stakeholder approach considering broader goals. See discussion on the subject in Clarke ( 2020 ).

The climate-related proposals to Chevron reflect this shift in emphasis toward a direct assessment of financial risk, from one of simple emission disclosure. From 1999 to 2009, requests for a “Report on Greenhouse Gas Emissions” were recurrent. Beginning in 2010, Chevron saw “Stockholder Proposals Regarding Financial Risks from Climate Change.”

Two examples from the 2016 proxy season highlight shareholder demands for innovation. Shareholders of Ameren Corp proposed “ITEM (4): SHAREHOLDER PROPOSAL RELATING TO A REPORT ON AGGRESSIVE RENEWABLE ENERGY ADOPTION.” Shareholders in AES Corp sponsored “PROPOSAL 4: A REPORT ON COMPANY POLICIES AND TECHNOLOGICAL ADVANCES” targeting the firm’s energy policies and emphasis on renewable sources.

In 2010, St. Joseph of the Capuchin Order requested a study “on how ExxonMobil, within a reasonable timeframe, can become the recognized industry leader in developing and making available the necessary technology (such as enhanced sequestration, engineered geothermal and the development of other renewable energy sources) to enable the U.S.A. to become energy independent in an environmentally sustainable way. By 2017, The New York State Common Retirement Fund sponsored the climate proposal that gained substantial press coverage, which essentially made a similar request: “…an annual assessment of the long-term portfolio impacts of technological advances and global climate change policies…” Further, the Board for Fluor Corporation has stated its opposition to repeated proposals from 2016 to 2018 requesting GHG reduction goals, by “Creating Technology to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emissions,” more specifically, by investing in NuScale Power, LLC along with Rolls-Royce.

We emphasize that climate-friendly boards and heightened managerial perceptions of climate risk are potential mechanisms. We argue that shareholder proposals positively influence these factors. However, we acknowledge without direct demonstration that these mechanisms, in turn, enhance innovations, considering them as established facts based on prior research (Homroy and Slechten, 2019 ; Sautner et al., 2023 ).

We considered using alternate terms such as “greenhouse gases” or “carbon emissions,” but due to the content of the DEF14A filing, it is not possible to ensure that a term appears directly within a shareholder proposal or management’s response to one without visual inspection, thus hand-collection. Often, the proposals are only a small portion of the DEF14A which often presents year-end results at the annual meeting. Further, word lists invariably subject samples to gaming. “Climate Change” has fairly unambiguous meaning to management and is the phrase used by both the SEC and USPTO.

We also consider that firm innovation may not have a perfect memory of a pressure over the past 25 years of all proposals related to climate change. For robustness, we construct the same three-year, backward average but for only the last three years as well as the last five years. The results that follow remain unchanged. We also use lagged proposals as a proxy for shareholder pressure on climate-related issues for additional robustness, and our main findings are qualitatively similar. These results are not reported for brevity but are presented in online Appendix 1 .

In fact, of the 1.9 million patents we examine from 1994 to 2019, only 8 begin with the Y02 classification, even though 105,737 patents contain the Y02 classification in the CPC coding scheme. For example, patent 5,426,677 appears to be primarily concerned with Physics, the G classification, (G21C1/09; G21C17/00; G21Y2002/202; G21Y2002/204; G21Y2004/304; Y02E30/40), but also has a Climate Mitigation (Y02) component. Disentangling truncation bias by year-technology for the Y02 classification is not feasible for this paper. Further, from our discussions with the USPTO, the first classification tends to be more dominant than the last.

In unreported results, we also construct dependent variables looking forward five years to allow more time for the stockholder pressure to influence innovative behavior.

As Wooldridge ( 2012 ) explains, “sometimes log(1 + y) is used, but interpretation of the coefficients is difficult.” (p. 216) However, this practice is commonplace in corporate finance settings. For robustness, the inverse hyperbolic sine (IHS), as suggested by Burbidge et al. ( 1988 ) and proposed by Johnson ( 1949 ), for zero-value observations is used to log transform both the logged dependent variables and the independent variable of interest, Pressure . The IHS transformation is sinh-1(x) = log(x + (× 2 + 1)1/2). The results using IHS for OLS regressions suggest that the coefficients tend to overstate the economic impact of models (3) and (6) of Table  2 as well as models with Y02 Counts pct and Y02 Cites pct as dependent variables, while understate the coefficients of models with Y02 Top 1 pct and Y02 Top 10 pct as dependent variables (Appendix B ), but the statistical inference remains unchanged in sign or significance.

The Pope’s sentiment also intuitively satisfies the exclusion restriction as it is unlikely to directly influence corporate innovations. To gain some reassurance on the (notorious) exclusion restriction, we divide the sample along the lines of Religious Social Capital considered by Rupasingha et al. ( 2006 ) and obtained from the U.S. Census Bureau’s number of establishments in religious organizations (NAICS 813110), also examined by Grennan ( 2022 ) along with other donor-advised funds. In splitting the sample between More and Less Religious at the county level, we find that firms headquartered in less religious counties have a more acute influence on climate innovations when the Pope serves as an instrument. We would expect the Pope to have a stronger influence in more religious counties, if the Pope were directly influencing management to develop climate technologies and bypassing proposals made by shareholders who are not concentrated near headquarters. Since we find the opposite, we feel better about the exclusion restriction, instead of relying only on our (notorious) intuitions for justification.

We implement causal mediation analysis using the ivmediate command in Stata (e.g., Dippel, Ferrara, and Heblich, 2020 ), allowing us to estimate the treatment effect and determine the proportion attributable to a mediator. The primary advantage, as noted, is that despite both the treatment and mediator being endogenous, a single instrument can accurately detect both causal treatment and mediation effects. However, the method does not produce the first-stage result of the IV regression. Instead, it reports the F-test of excluded instruments directly from the first stage to assess instrument strength, which suffices to establish validity. In our models, detailed in Table  4 , the F-tests from the first stage across all models greatly exceed the conventional cutoff value of 10, ensuring the validity of the instrument. Nevertheless, we manually performed IV regressions and confirmed that our instrument, PopeUS, significantly and positively affects both Pressure and mediators.

In the results, not tabulated for brevity, we re-estimate the same model as in Panel A but with firm fixed effects. We find significant causal mediation effects of Pressure on Y02 Counts that pass through Ind Dir Exp. In parallel to Panel B, we re-estimated the same model with firm fixed effects using CC Bigrams as a mediator and found nearly full mediation. Additionally, we detected marginal mediation in the model with Y02 Cites as a dependent variable using CC Bigrams as a mediator, but not Ind Dir Exp. Thus, the results of firm fixed effects analysis are more suggestive in this case.

We also perform robustness checks of our mediation analysis using alternative measures of shareholder proposals (three-year backward averages for the last three and five years, and lagged proposals). We find statistically significant mediation in all cases, with the mediated effect ranging from 0.54 to 0.91 of the total effect. We also limit the sample to firms that have ever received a proposal related to climate change during our sample period and find the proportion of the total effect mediated varies from 0.62 to 0.74 of the total effect. Finally, using the percentage of votes at the annual meetings in favor of a climate-related proposal collected by ISS (ISS Vote For), the mediated effect ranges from 0.83 to 0.90 of the total effect. We estimate these models using industry fixed effects, with industries identified using 3-digit SIC codes. Overall, our results are in line with our main findings.

To ensure our results are not due to selection of matching estimator, we also employ entropy balancing, nearest neighbor, propensity score, and the CEM (Blackwell et al., 2009 ) and find our results to be robust. The main advantage of EBCT, of course, is that it allows us to match on our continuous treatment variable ( Pressure ), instead of a binary one required for the other estimators.

We note that, following the approach of Faleye et al., ( 2014 ), we also examined the short-term performance implications of the change in patent counts attributable to shareholder climate-related proposals. That is, we regress our performance metrics on predicted patent counts as well as patent cites, where the predicted values are from the regression of innovation variables in our shareholder proposal measures. Our findings remain consistent.

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Appendix a: description of variables and sources.

Appendix B: Shareholder Climate-Related Proposals and Corporate Innovations—Alternative Models

This table shows the results of ordinary least square regressions with Innovation as the dependent variable based on the patent data by date filed with the US Patent Office containing the Y02 (climate change). In Columns (1)–(4), dependent variables are Y02 Count Pct —the percent of a firm’s Y02 patents in a given year relative to all of that firm’s patents filed in the same year, Y02 Cite Pct —the percent of a firm’s Y02 patent citations in a given year relative to all of that firm’s patent citations filed in the same year, Y02 Top 1—the natural log of one plus the number of Y02 patents whose citations were in the top 1 percent of all Y02 patents in a given year, Y02 Top 10 —the natural log of one plus the number of Y02 patents whose citations were in the top 10 percent of all Y02 patents in a given year, respectively. Pressure is the natural log of one plus a three-year, backward average of an accumulated total of the climate-related shareholder proposals that a firm has received from 1994 to 2019. The control variables are also averaged over three years and include Size, R&D, Tobin’s Q, Age, Revenue Growth, Stock Returns, Leverage and Cash Surplus, as defined in Appendix A. t-statistic, based on robust standard errors, adjusted for heteroskedasticity and clustered at the industry-year level, are reported in brackets below the coefficients. ***, **, and * indicate significance at the 1%, 5%, and 10% level, respectively

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Tindall, G., Cole, R.A. & Javakhadze, D. Innovation Responds to Climate Change Proposals. J Bus Ethics (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05808-7

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-024-05808-7

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