ARE ESTIMATES OF THE IMPACT OF SHAREHOLDER ACTIVISM PUBLISHED SELECTIVELY?
ARE ESTIMATES OF THE IMPACT OF SHAREHOLDER ACTIVISM PUBLISHED SELECTIVELY?
| Author(s): | Mgr. Josef Bajzík , prof. PhDr. Tomáš Havránek Ph.D., doc. PhDr. Zuzana Havránková Ph.D., doc. Jiří Novák M.Sc., Ph.D. |
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| Type: | IES Working Papers |
| Year: | 2023 |
| Number: | 1 |
| ISSN / ISBN: | |
| Published in: | IES Working Papers 1/2023 |
| Publishing place: | Praha |
| Keywords: | cumulative abnormal return, shareholder activism, eventstudy, meta-analysis, model averaging, publication bias |
| JEL codes: | G14, G30, G34, L20 |
| Suggested Citation: | Bajzik J., Havránek T., Iršová Z., Novák J. (2022): "Are Estimates of the Impact of Shareholder Activism Published Selectively?" IES Working Papers 1/2023. IES FSV. Charles University. |
| Abstract: | Shareholder activism constitutes an increasingly prominent feature of corporate governance landscape. There is a controversy in prior research over whether and how much value activism creates. We examine whether estimates of the impact of shareholder activism are published selectively in prior empirical research. We argue that economists may tend to view activism as a vital corporate governance tool to overcome agency problems and promote economic efficiency. Researchers and journal editors may thus be biased towards consider empirical results in support of the beneficial role of shareholder activism as more reliable than insignificant or opposite results. Consistent with this prediction we document a substantial bias towards publishing (i) higher (rather than lower) and (ii) statistically significant (rather than insignificant) estimates of the impact of shareholder activism. Due to that the pool of estimates in prior empirical literature is biased upwards. The value created by the various forms of shareholder activism corrected for these biases ranges from 0.38 to 3.23% with a median value of 1.94%. |
| Downloadable: | wp_2023_01_bajzik, havranek, irsova, novak.pdf |
