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Can online annual general meetings increase shareholders’ participation in corporate governance?
Author(s) -
Gao Huasheng,
Huang Jun,
Zhang Tianshu
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
financial management
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.647
H-Index - 68
eISSN - 1755-053X
pISSN - 0046-3892
DOI - 10.1111/fima.12301
Subject(s) - shareholder , corporate governance , business , accounting , stock (firearms) , annual report , finance , mechanical engineering , engineering
We find that annual shareholder meetings conducted online can significantly increase the participation of shareholders, especially minority shareholders. This finding is more evident when the cost of physically attending the annual meeting is higher and when the firm's ownership is more dispersed. We further document significant positive stock returns when firms initiate annual online meetings. We also find that such online meetings help improve corporate governance. Overall, we provide evidence that online shareholder meetings provide shareholders a cost‐effective way to participate in governance issues.