This is the first comprehensive study of the distribution of voting rights to shareholders. Only those owning stock on the record date may vote. Firms, however, reveal that date after the fact 91% of the time. With controversial votes, firms are more likely to do the opposite, and this is...

The right to bring an action in court is an important right which many argue should be granted liberally. The United States Supreme Court, for example, has held that under certain situations access to court is a citizen's fundamental right. This paper discusses one facet of access to the courts,...

This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the role of blockholders (large shareholders) in corporate governance. We start with the underlying property rights of public corporations; we discuss how blockholders are critical in addressing free-rider problems and why, like...

This paper reviews the theoretical and empirical literature on the role of blockholders (large shareholders) in corporate governance. We start with the underlying property rights of public corporations; we discuss how blockholders are critical in addressing free-rider problems and why, like...

Shareholder participation in domestic rights offerings averages only 64%, which is considerably lower than previously thought. This causes wealth transfers from nonparticipating to participating shareholders which average 7% of the value of the offering. Wealth transfers are larger in...