Shareholders have, in recent years, imposed considerable influence on firms and the managers that run them. Their role has become so prevalent that hedge funds, activist investors, and short sellers dominate the headlines of the popular business press. Academics are desperately trying to keep up with the furious pace of change and incorporate emerging phenomena into our theories of corporate governance. To facilitate this process, Dr. Connelly will review the key forms of corporate ownership and describe ways in which they affect firm-level outcomes. He will discuss five current debates about which ownership scholars disagree. Dr. Connelly will discuss the state of each debate, describe studies he has underway in these research streams, and offer ideas for future study pertaining to each debate. He will also discuss the ideas, hypotheses, data, and results for a specific study that addresses one of these debates.
