Nigerian professional investors' sensemaking of the impact of shareholder activism on corporate accountability

Ashiru, F.;Adegbite, E.;Nakpodia, F.

Abstract

This study investigates the perceptions of professional investors (PIs) on the impact of three groups of shareholder activists (i.e., reputable, sophisticated, or institutional) on corporate accountability in a weak institutional context and how this shapes the PIs’ investment recommendations. Relying on a sense-making theoretical perspective of the power and competence of shareholder activists obtained through semi-structured interviews with 27 Nigerian PIs, we reveal that the impact of shareholder activism occurs in three activism-accountability dimensions: dominant, insignificant, and emerging. Subsequently, we unpack factors that explain the power and influence of the dominant activism of reputable activists, the insignificant activism of sophisticated activists and the emerging activism of institutional activists. By advocating a contextual understanding of shareholder activism, this article sheds much-needed insights into the concept of ‘activism-accountability’ in a weak institutional environment.

Journal

Journal of Accounting and Public Policy

Publication Name

N/A

Volume

ISBN/ISSN

1873-2070

Edition

N/A

Issue

Pages Count

Location

N/A

Publisher

Elsevier

Publisher Url

N/A

Publisher Location

N/A

Publish Date

N/A

Url

N/A

Date

N/A

EISSN

N/A

DOI

10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2023.107114