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A Vote for Sustainable Development (Part 2): Investigating E, S and G Shareholder Engagement in U.S. Capital Markets

Hunter Jivung, Björn Thomas LU (2025) EKHS35 20242
Department of Economic History
Abstract (Swedish)
This second-year master’s thesis builds on the foundation laid in Jivung (2024) by extending the RDD analysis of close-call ESG shareholder proposals to more granular levels – E&S, G, G-Index, and G-Other. This research extends analyses presented in the seminal works of Cuñat et al. (2012) and Flammer (2015), introducing an improved RDD model based on current RDD best practice. This research estimates treatment effects ranging from 0.0039 to 0.011, statistically significant at the 10% level, from passing close-call G proposals on DAR on the day of the vote. The analysis did not identify significant effects of passing E&S proposals on DAR, a departure from prior studies. Despite the empirical results being less convincing of a causal effect... (More)
This second-year master’s thesis builds on the foundation laid in Jivung (2024) by extending the RDD analysis of close-call ESG shareholder proposals to more granular levels – E&S, G, G-Index, and G-Other. This research extends analyses presented in the seminal works of Cuñat et al. (2012) and Flammer (2015), introducing an improved RDD model based on current RDD best practice. This research estimates treatment effects ranging from 0.0039 to 0.011, statistically significant at the 10% level, from passing close-call G proposals on DAR on the day of the vote. The analysis did not identify significant effects of passing E&S proposals on DAR, a departure from prior studies. Despite the empirical results being less convincing of a causal effect of passing close-call shareholder proposals on DAR than results presented in previous studies, this finding is consistent with changing dynamics in G proposal data composition, ESG management programs and disclosures, and market sentiment towards ESG issues, and is well supported by a rigorous research methodology. The results of this research are both a contribution to the academic understanding of shareholder engagement and a warning: while shareholder engagement has been widely regarded as a win-win mechanism to align financial performance with sustainability goals, this study suggests that this positioning may no longer hold true in the current market environment. (Less)
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author
Hunter Jivung, Björn Thomas LU
supervisor
organization
course
EKHS35 20242
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
Shareholder Engagement, Sustainable Development, Shareholder Activism, ESG Shareholder Proposals, Sustainable Finance
language
English
id
9183734
date added to LUP
2025-02-03 09:18:06
date last changed
2025-02-03 09:18:06
@misc{9183734,
  abstract     = {{This second-year master’s thesis builds on the foundation laid in Jivung (2024) by extending the RDD analysis of close-call ESG shareholder proposals to more granular levels – E&S, G, G-Index, and G-Other. This research extends analyses presented in the seminal works of Cuñat et al. (2012) and Flammer (2015), introducing an improved RDD model based on current RDD best practice. This research estimates treatment effects ranging from 0.0039 to 0.011, statistically significant at the 10% level, from passing close-call G proposals on DAR on the day of the vote. The analysis did not identify significant effects of passing E&S proposals on DAR, a departure from prior studies. Despite the empirical results being less convincing of a causal effect of passing close-call shareholder proposals on DAR than results presented in previous studies, this finding is consistent with changing dynamics in G proposal data composition, ESG management programs and disclosures, and market sentiment towards ESG issues, and is well supported by a rigorous research methodology. The results of this research are both a contribution to the academic understanding of shareholder engagement and a warning: while shareholder engagement has been widely regarded as a win-win mechanism to align financial performance with sustainability goals, this study suggests that this positioning may no longer hold true in the current market environment.}},
  author       = {{Hunter Jivung, Björn Thomas}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{A Vote for Sustainable Development (Part 2): Investigating E, S and G Shareholder Engagement in U.S. Capital Markets}},
  year         = {{2025}},
}