Pub Date : 2025-10-22DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101202
Zhen Wang, Kai Wu
This study investigates the influence of climate change exposure on institutional ownership worldwide. Leveraging a comprehensive dataset of firm-level climate change exposure, we document a negative association between climate change exposure and in- stitutional ownership, establishing causality through an instrumental variable approach and the difference-in-differences method. Short-term-oriented institutional investors drive the negative correlation between climate change exposure and institutional ownership. This relationship is particularly pronounced in firms with weaker corporate governance structures and poor information disclosure quality and in countries with stronger environmental policies and higher climate awareness. While institutions generally reduce their holdings in climate-exposed firms, those maintaining ownership positions demonstrate increased engagement in climate risk governance. Our findings emphasize the dual role of institutional investors in responding to climate risks and shaping corporate environmental governance.
{"title":"How do institutional investors respond to climate change exposure? International evidence","authors":"Zhen Wang, Kai Wu","doi":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101202","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101202","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the influence of climate change exposure on institutional ownership worldwide. Leveraging a comprehensive dataset of firm-level climate change exposure, we document a negative association between climate change exposure and in- stitutional ownership, establishing causality through an instrumental variable approach and the difference-in-differences method. Short-term-oriented institutional investors drive the negative correlation between climate change exposure and institutional ownership. This relationship is particularly pronounced in firms with weaker corporate governance structures and poor information disclosure quality and in countries with stronger environmental policies and higher climate awareness. While institutions generally reduce their holdings in climate-exposed firms, those maintaining ownership positions demonstrate increased engagement in climate risk governance. Our findings emphasize the dual role of institutional investors in responding to climate risks and shaping corporate environmental governance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46907,"journal":{"name":"Global Finance Journal","volume":"68 ","pages":"Article 101202"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-22","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145362530","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-17DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101205
Anh Tuan Le , Harvey Nguyen , Cuong Nguyen
This study investigates the cross-sectional asset pricing implications of investor regret in the Chinese stock market. Using a comprehensive sample spanning January 2000 to November 2021, we find that regret is positively related to the cross-section of future equity returns. A strategy that involves longing a portfolio with the highest regret and shorting a portfolio with the lowest regret generates annualized risk-adjusted returns of 11.64 %. In addition, the regret premium is more pronounced for stocks with high arbitrage limits and information frictions. The regret anomaly persists after considering established asset pricing factors through extensive sensitivity analyses. Overall, our findings remain consistent with our hypothesis that regret-averse investors generally avoid stocks that generate high regret as these stocks have reduced overall utility compared with others. Consequently, these high regret stocks tend to deliver higher future returns in equilibrium. Our results provide valuable insights for policymakers and regulators to better understand how investors' emotional behaviors such as regret can affect stock dynamics, particularly in emerging and retail-driven markets.
{"title":"Regret to reward: Investor regret and the cross-sectional stock returns in the Chinese market","authors":"Anh Tuan Le , Harvey Nguyen , Cuong Nguyen","doi":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101205","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101205","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates the cross-sectional asset pricing implications of investor regret in the Chinese stock market. Using a comprehensive sample spanning January 2000 to November 2021, we find that regret is positively related to the cross-section of future equity returns. A strategy that involves longing a portfolio with the highest regret and shorting a portfolio with the lowest regret generates annualized risk-adjusted returns of 11.64 %. In addition, the regret premium is more pronounced for stocks with high arbitrage limits and information frictions. The regret anomaly persists after considering established asset pricing factors through extensive sensitivity analyses. Overall, our findings remain consistent with our hypothesis that regret-averse investors generally avoid stocks that generate high regret as these stocks have reduced overall utility compared with others. Consequently, these high regret stocks tend to deliver higher future returns in equilibrium. Our results provide valuable insights for policymakers and regulators to better understand how investors' emotional behaviors such as regret can affect stock dynamics, particularly in emerging and retail-driven markets.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46907,"journal":{"name":"Global Finance Journal","volume":"68 ","pages":"Article 101205"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145362531","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-15DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101203
Yu Ma , Wenxia Zhao , Zijun Ding
Climate risk has emerged as a major global challenge with significant implications for the dynamics of exchange rates. By constructing a Climate Physical Risk Index based on extreme weather events across 77 countries from 1993 to 2022, this study examines whether climate shocks affect exchange rates. Fixed-effects models for panel data are employed to assess the cross-national impact of climate risk. The results indicate that climate shocks contribute to currency depreciation, with pronounced effects observed in developing countries, economies characterized by floating exchange rate regimes and those with lower levels of openness, and nations situated in the Northern Hemisphere. An analysis of the mechanisms reveals that climate risk affects exchange rates through various channels, such as deteriorating current accounts, widening fiscal deficits, hindering economic growth, and reducing total factor productivity. By introducing a cross-national risk index into the process of determining exchange rates, this study expands the intersection of climate economics and international finance. This study highlights significant policy implications for designing change rate regimes, fiscal planning, and enhancing resilience through investment strategies.
{"title":"Does climate risk influence exchange rates?","authors":"Yu Ma , Wenxia Zhao , Zijun Ding","doi":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101203","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101203","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Climate risk has emerged as a major global challenge with significant implications for the dynamics of exchange rates. By constructing a Climate Physical Risk Index based on extreme weather events across 77 countries from 1993 to 2022, this study examines whether climate shocks affect exchange rates. Fixed-effects models for panel data are employed to assess the cross-national impact of climate risk. The results indicate that climate shocks contribute to currency depreciation, with pronounced effects observed in developing countries, economies characterized by floating exchange rate regimes and those with lower levels of openness, and nations situated in the Northern Hemisphere. An analysis of the mechanisms reveals that climate risk affects exchange rates through various channels, such as deteriorating current accounts, widening fiscal deficits, hindering economic growth, and reducing total factor productivity. By introducing a cross-national risk index into the process of determining exchange rates, this study expands the intersection of climate economics and international finance. This study highlights significant policy implications for designing change rate regimes, fiscal planning, and enhancing resilience through investment strategies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46907,"journal":{"name":"Global Finance Journal","volume":"68 ","pages":"Article 101203"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145325004","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-11DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101201
Tingting Liu , Yong Du , Shuying Tan , Shuhan Zhao
This paper investigates the peer effect of shadow banking among A-share nonfinancial firms in China's Shanghai and Shenzhen markets from 2007 to 2020, focusing on common analyst networks. The results reveal a significant peer effect, whereby firms imitate the shadow banking behavior of peers connected via shared analysts. This effect reduces firm performance and heightens stock price crash risk. The underlying mechanism is driven by information transmission and competitive pressure induced by common analysts. The study also proposes countermeasures for firms, analysts, and regulators, offering a novel perspective on addressing the “hollowing out” of the real economy.
{"title":"Peer effect of nonfinancial corporate shadow banking: Evidence from common analyst networks in China","authors":"Tingting Liu , Yong Du , Shuying Tan , Shuhan Zhao","doi":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101201","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101201","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This paper investigates the peer effect of shadow banking among A-share nonfinancial firms in China's Shanghai and Shenzhen markets from 2007 to 2020, focusing on common analyst networks. The results reveal a significant peer effect, whereby firms imitate the shadow banking behavior of peers connected via shared analysts. This effect reduces firm performance and heightens stock price crash risk. The underlying mechanism is driven by information transmission and competitive pressure induced by common analysts. The study also proposes countermeasures for firms, analysts, and regulators, offering a novel perspective on addressing the “hollowing out” of the real economy.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46907,"journal":{"name":"Global Finance Journal","volume":"68 ","pages":"Article 101201"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145325001","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-10DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101199
Ying Yuan , Yong Qu , Sijia Qiao
We propose a constraint-based predictor decomposition approach that exploits predictive information in commonly used predictors to improve equity premium forecasts. The approach identifies and quantifies unexpected changes as deviation tendency while bounding values to capture central tendency. Predictions from the two tendencies are then synthesized. Empirical analysis shows this approach outperforms existing methods, producing statistically and economically significant out-of-sample results. These findings validate the ability of our approach to capture both tendencies. We also extend the analysis to multivariate prediction, where results consistently confirm its superiority. Finally, robustness tests and additional analyses demonstrate that the approach delivers stable and reliable forecasting performance.
{"title":"Equity premium prediction: A constraint-based predictor decomposition approach","authors":"Ying Yuan , Yong Qu , Sijia Qiao","doi":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101199","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101199","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>We propose a constraint-based predictor decomposition approach that exploits predictive information in commonly used predictors to improve equity premium forecasts. The approach identifies and quantifies unexpected changes as deviation tendency while bounding values to capture central tendency. Predictions from the two tendencies are then synthesized. Empirical analysis shows this approach outperforms existing methods, producing statistically and economically significant out-of-sample results. These findings validate the ability of our approach to capture both tendencies. We also extend the analysis to multivariate prediction, where results consistently confirm its superiority. Finally, robustness tests and additional analyses demonstrate that the approach delivers stable and reliable forecasting performance.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46907,"journal":{"name":"Global Finance Journal","volume":"68 ","pages":"Article 101199"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145325002","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-08DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101200
Xiaoying Wu , Hyoung-Goo Kang , Doojin Ryu
This study examines how policy-driven green finance reform reshapes firm-banking relationships, using the implementation of China's Green Finance Pilot Zones (GFPZ) as a quasi-natural experiment. Employing loan announcement data from listed firms and a difference-in-differences approach, we measure the intensity of firm-banking relationships using repeated borrowing activity and find that the GFPZ policy significantly reduces it. The effect is more pronounced in regions with greater banking competition and financial development, and among firms that are more transparent or under stricter environmental scrutiny. By showing how sustainability-oriented policies transform financial relationships, this study provides new insights into the adaptation of firm-banking interactions under green development agendas.
{"title":"Green finance reform and reshaping firm-banking relationships: Evidence from China","authors":"Xiaoying Wu , Hyoung-Goo Kang , Doojin Ryu","doi":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101200","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101200","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines how policy-driven green finance reform reshapes firm-banking relationships, using the implementation of China's Green Finance Pilot Zones (GFPZ) as a quasi-natural experiment. Employing loan announcement data from listed firms and a difference-in-differences approach, we measure the intensity of firm-banking relationships using repeated borrowing activity and find that the GFPZ policy significantly reduces it. The effect is more pronounced in regions with greater banking competition and financial development, and among firms that are more transparent or under stricter environmental scrutiny. By showing how sustainability-oriented policies transform financial relationships, this study provides new insights into the adaptation of firm-banking interactions under green development agendas.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46907,"journal":{"name":"Global Finance Journal","volume":"68 ","pages":"Article 101200"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145417010","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-10-04DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101198
Yunji Hwang , Jonghan Park , Kevin H. Kim , Seung Hun Han
This study investigates how terrorist attacks affect female CEO compensation. Using terrorist attacks, as exogenous events, in the United States from 1992 to 2021, we find that firms located near terrorist attacks subsequently provide higher compensation to female CEOs than their male counterparts. This effect is more pronounced for female CEOs who serve as board chairs. Additionally, firms led by female CEOs experience lower stock volatility and earnings volatility. Overall, our findings suggest that given the heightened uncertainty firms face following the attacks, they have incentives to offer higher compensation to retain female executives, thereby ensuring leadership continuity and benefiting from female leadership during a crisis period.
{"title":"Female CEOs in turbulent times: The effect of terrorist attacks on executive compensation","authors":"Yunji Hwang , Jonghan Park , Kevin H. Kim , Seung Hun Han","doi":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101198","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101198","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study investigates how terrorist attacks affect female CEO compensation. Using terrorist attacks, as exogenous events, in the United States from 1992 to 2021, we find that firms located near terrorist attacks subsequently provide higher compensation to female CEOs than their male counterparts. This effect is more pronounced for female CEOs who serve as board chairs. Additionally, firms led by female CEOs experience lower stock volatility and earnings volatility. Overall, our findings suggest that given the heightened uncertainty firms face following the attacks, they have incentives to offer higher compensation to retain female executives, thereby ensuring leadership continuity and benefiting from female leadership during a crisis period.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46907,"journal":{"name":"Global Finance Journal","volume":"68 ","pages":"Article 101198"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-10-04","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145267633","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-26DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101197
Lucas N.C. Vasconcelos, Rafael Schiozer
This study examines how fiscal constraints affect banks' market value in a cross-country sample, using exogenous variations in fiscal constraints based on abnormal military spending. Increased fiscal constraints arising from exogenous spending shocks can affect bank valuation through two different channels with opposing expected effects: spending shocks weaken governments' ability to stabilize the financial system during crises, resulting in lower bank valuation; however, when fiscal constraints are heightened because of positive sector-specific spending shocks (increased military expenditure), corporate earnings—particularly in sectors that are heavily dependent on government contracts—become more predictable, which subsequently reduces banks' earnings volatility, thereby increasing their valuation. We find that fiscal constraints negatively impact banks' valuation, which is consistent with the first channel (i.e., owing to the reduced proportion of banks' value composed by implicit or explicit governmental guarantees). In addition, bank resolution reforms adopted after the global financial crisis attenuate this relationship, but do not completely eliminate it. The sovereign–bank nexus remains relevant and concentrated in large banks. Our inferences provide insights in favor of strengthening bank resolution frameworks, to reduce banks' reliance on governmental funds and ensure bailouts occur only when welfare-enhancing. By limiting expectations of unconditional government support, these regulations may mitigate too-big-to-fail perceptions.
{"title":"Sovereign fiscal capacity, implicit subsidies, and bank value","authors":"Lucas N.C. Vasconcelos, Rafael Schiozer","doi":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101197","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101197","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study examines how fiscal constraints affect banks' market value in a cross-country sample, using exogenous variations in fiscal constraints based on abnormal military spending. Increased fiscal constraints arising from exogenous spending shocks can affect bank valuation through two different channels with opposing expected effects: spending shocks weaken governments' ability to stabilize the financial system during crises, resulting in lower bank valuation; however, when fiscal constraints are heightened because of positive sector-specific spending shocks (increased military expenditure), corporate earnings—particularly in sectors that are heavily dependent on government contracts—become more predictable, which subsequently reduces banks' earnings volatility, thereby increasing their valuation. We find that fiscal constraints negatively impact banks' valuation, which is consistent with the first channel (i.e., owing to the reduced proportion of banks' value composed by implicit or explicit governmental guarantees). In addition, bank resolution reforms adopted after the global financial crisis attenuate this relationship, but do not completely eliminate it. The sovereign–bank nexus remains relevant and concentrated in large banks. Our inferences provide insights in favor of strengthening bank resolution frameworks, to reduce banks' reliance on governmental funds and ensure bailouts occur only when welfare-enhancing. By limiting expectations of unconditional government support, these regulations may mitigate too-big-to-fail perceptions.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46907,"journal":{"name":"Global Finance Journal","volume":"68 ","pages":"Article 101197"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-26","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145267632","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-24DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101181
Merih Angın, Eylem Güner, Pelin Kılınçarslan
Despite widespread artificial intelligence (AI) and financial-inclusion strategies across Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (MENAT) countries, their implications for gender equality remain underexplored. This study bridges this gap by employing natural language processing techniques, specifically a RoBERTa model fine-tuned for Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality), to analyze publicly available national AI strategy documents from MENAT countries. Our high-accuracy thematic classification reveals substantial variation in countries' approaches to gender-focused financial inclusion. Through an in-depth comparative assessment of Egypt, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we find distinct approaches: the UAE demonstrates strong AI readiness yet limited focus on socio-economic inclusivity, Turkey shows moderate attention to integrating gender in financial inclusion, and Egypt, despite ambitious goals, faces significant implementation challenges. These findings underscore the diverse challenges and opportunities in leveraging AI to enhance financial inclusion and empower women, reflecting varied socio-economic priorities and execution capacities across the MENAT region.
{"title":"AI strategies for financial inclusion and gender equality in MENAT: Evidence from Egypt, Turkey, and the UAE","authors":"Merih Angın, Eylem Güner, Pelin Kılınçarslan","doi":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101181","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101181","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Despite widespread artificial intelligence (AI) and financial-inclusion strategies across Middle East, North Africa, and Turkey (MENAT) countries, their implications for gender equality remain underexplored. This study bridges this gap by employing natural language processing techniques, specifically a RoBERTa model fine-tuned for Sustainable Development Goal 5 (Gender Equality), to analyze publicly available national AI strategy documents from MENAT countries. Our high-accuracy thematic classification reveals substantial variation in countries' approaches to gender-focused financial inclusion. Through an in-depth comparative assessment of Egypt, Turkey, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), we find distinct approaches: the UAE demonstrates strong AI readiness yet limited focus on socio-economic inclusivity, Turkey shows moderate attention to integrating gender in financial inclusion, and Egypt, despite ambitious goals, faces significant implementation challenges. These findings underscore the diverse challenges and opportunities in leveraging AI to enhance financial inclusion and empower women, reflecting varied socio-economic priorities and execution capacities across the MENAT region.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46907,"journal":{"name":"Global Finance Journal","volume":"68 ","pages":"Article 101181"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145325003","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2025-09-23DOI: 10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101196
Pouyan Foroughi
Corporate opportunity waivers let directors pursue outside ventures, weakening the duty of loyalty that supports investor confidence. Exploiting staggered state adoptions of these statutes from 2000 to 2018, we examine how blockholders, the market’s main bulwark against self-dealing, react. Public governance signals barely change; support for management proposals slips by less than one percentage point, failed director elections fall, and friendly hedge fund activism fades. Once scrutiny shifts toward the potential outcomes of private monitoring, a strikingly different picture emerges, as larger firms experience more frequent departures of independent directors, activists who once cooperated with management adopt confrontational tactics, and long-horizon investors pare their stakes, especially where diversion prospects are very high, analyst coverage is extensive, and boards are larger. Loosening fiduciary standards, therefore, gradually weakens shareholder oversight, eroding a critical governance mechanism and placing long-term firm value at risk, despite initial market optimism.
{"title":"Walking quietly: Fiduciary waivers and blockholder exit","authors":"Pouyan Foroughi","doi":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101196","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.gfj.2025.101196","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Corporate opportunity waivers let directors pursue outside ventures, weakening the duty of loyalty that supports investor confidence. Exploiting staggered state adoptions of these statutes from 2000 to 2018, we examine how blockholders, the market’s main bulwark against self-dealing, react. Public governance signals barely change; support for management proposals slips by less than one percentage point, failed director elections fall, and friendly hedge fund activism fades. Once scrutiny shifts toward the potential outcomes of private monitoring, a strikingly different picture emerges, as larger firms experience more frequent departures of independent directors, activists who once cooperated with management adopt confrontational tactics, and long-horizon investors pare their stakes, especially where diversion prospects are very high, analyst coverage is extensive, and boards are larger. Loosening fiduciary standards, therefore, gradually weakens shareholder oversight, eroding a critical governance mechanism and placing long-term firm value at risk, despite initial market optimism.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":46907,"journal":{"name":"Global Finance Journal","volume":"68 ","pages":"Article 101196"},"PeriodicalIF":5.5,"publicationDate":"2025-09-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145220896","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"经济学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}