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Recent Advances in Research on Hedge Fund Activism: Value Creation and Identification

Author

Listed:
  • Alon Brav

    (The Fuqua School of Business, Duke University, Durham, North Carolina 27708)

  • Hyunseob Kim

    (Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853)

  • Wei Jiang

    (Columbia Business School, Columbia University, New York, NY 10027)

Abstract

Hedge fund activism emerged as a major force of corporate governance in the 2000s. By the mid-2000s, there were between 150 and 200 activist hedge funds in action each year, advocating for changes in 200–300 publicly listed companies in the United States. In this article, we review the evolution and major characteristics of hedge fund activism, as well as the short- and long-term impacts of the performance and governance of targeted companies. Though most of the analyses here are based on a comprehensive sample of over 2,000 activism events in the United States from 1994 to 2011, hand-collected by the authors from regulatory filings and news searches, this article covers all major studies on the topic, including those on markets outside of the United States.

Suggested Citation

  • Alon Brav & Hyunseob Kim & Wei Jiang, 2015. "Recent Advances in Research on Hedge Fund Activism: Value Creation and Identification," Annual Review of Financial Economics, Annual Reviews, vol. 7(1), pages 579-595, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:anr:refeco:v:7:y:2015:p:579-595
    DOI: 10.1146/annurev-financial-111914-041751
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Brav, Alon & Jiang, Wei & Ma, Song & Tian, Xuan, 2018. "How does hedge fund activism reshape corporate innovation?," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 130(2), pages 237-264.
    2. Aguilera, Ruth & Bermejo, Vicente & Capapé, Javier & Cuñat, Vicente, 2021. "The systemic governance influence of universal owners: evidence from an expectation document," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118899, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    3. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Alon Brav & Wei Jiang & Thomas Keusch, 2019. "Dancing With Activists," NBER Working Papers 26171, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Ryan Flugum & Matthew E. Souther, 2020. "External monitoring and returns to hedge fund activist campaigns," Review of Financial Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(1), pages 97-140, January.
    5. Bessler, Wolfgang & Vendrasco, Marco, 2022. "Corporate control and shareholder activism in Germany: An empirical analysis of hedge fund strategies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    6. Danis, András, 2020. "Shareholder activism with strategic investors," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 33(C).
    7. Flugum, Ryan & Howe, John S., 2020. "Hedge fund activism and analyst uncertainty," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 206-227.
    8. Dasgupta, Amil & Fos, Vyacheslav & Sautner, Zacharias, 2021. "Institutional investors and corporate governance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 112114, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    9. Nguyen, Phuong L. & Galpin, Neal & Twite, Garry, 2022. "New active blockholders and adjustment of CEO relative incentive ratios," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    10. Edmans, Alex & Holderness, Clifford, 2016. "Blockholders: A Survey of Theory and Evidence," CEPR Discussion Papers 11442, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    11. Krishnan, C.N.V. & Partnoy, Frank & Thomas, Randall S., 2016. "The second wave of hedge fund activism: The importance of reputation, clout, and expertise," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 40(C), pages 296-314.
    12. Bebchuk, Lucian A. & Brav, Alon & Jiang, Wei & Keusch, Thomas, 2020. "Dancing with activists," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 137(1), pages 1-41.
    13. Margarethe Wiersema & Albert Ahn & Yu Zhang, 2020. "Activist hedge fund success: The role of reputation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(13), pages 2493-2517, December.
    14. An, Ran & Huang, Lawrence (Hong), 2021. "Political influence in hedge fund activism: Causal evidence from U.S. gubernatorial election," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1).
    15. Yang, Huan, 2021. "Institutional dual holdings and risk-shifting: Evidence from corporate innovation," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C).
    16. Gillan, Stuart L. & Nguyen, Nga & Nishikawa, Takeshi, 2023. "Heterogeneity in shareholder activism: Evidence from Japan," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 77(C).
    17. Matsusaka, John G. & Ozbas, Oguzhan & Yi, Irene, 2017. "Why Do Managers Fight Shareholder Proposals? Evidence from SEC No-Action Letter Decisions," Working Papers 262, The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, George J. Stigler Center for the Study of the Economy and the State.
    18. Caselli, Stefano & Gatti, Stefano & Chiarella, Carlo & Gigante, Gimede & Negri, Giulia, 2023. "Do shareholders really matter for firm performance? Evidence from the ownership characteristics of Italian listed companies," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    19. Zhan Li, 2021. "The factor market spillover effects of shareholder activism," Journal of Financial Research, Southern Finance Association;Southwestern Finance Association, vol. 44(3), pages 671-689, September.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    corporate governance; productivity; shareholder activism;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • G23 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Non-bank Financial Institutions; Financial Instruments; Institutional Investors
    • G30 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - General
    • G32 - Financial Economics - - Corporate Finance and Governance - - - Financing Policy; Financial Risk and Risk Management; Capital and Ownership Structure; Value of Firms; Goodwill

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