The Academic Insight is based on the research article, funded by Vinnova and conducted in partnership with AP7: "Mirroring and switching authoritative personae: A ventriloquial analysis of shareholder engagement on carbon emissions" published in Human relations in 2023.

The involvement of shareholders in pressuring corporations to address environmental, social, and governance (ESG) concerns, within the broader context of challenges linked to climate change, has sparked extensive discussions. Shareholder engagement, a process in which shareholders via dialogue seek to influence corporate management to improve ESG performance, is viewed by many as a promising approach for redirecting corporate attention towards climate change issues. However, given the time- and resource-intensive nature of engagement, many investors outsource the work to intermediary organizations that represent their collective interests. This academic insight delves into the process by which shareholders and their intermediaries establish authority in shareholder engagement which can, in turn, influence companies to improve their climate-related work.

Read the full Misum Academic Insight here.

Research article authors:

• Rieneke Slager, Associate Professor, University of Groningen

• Jean-Pascal Gond, Professor, City, University London

• Emma Sjöström, Academic Researcher and Co-director of the Sustainable Finance Initiative, Misum.