2022 Working Paper Prizes
BRUSSELS – 19 July 2022. The European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) is delighted to announce the winners of the best papers in the Working Paper Finance and Law Series’ published in 2021.
The 2022 Intesa Sanpaolo Finance Prize of EUR 5,000 has been awarded to Andrey Malenko, University of Michigan and CEPR, Nadya Malenko, University of Michigan, CEPR and ECGI, Chester S. Spatt, Carnegie Mellon University and NBER for their paper on: “Creating Controversy in Proxy Voting Advice” (ECGI Finance Working Paper 772/2021).
The paper shows how the commercial model of proxy advisors creates an incentive for the advisor to create controversy on certain votes through its recommendations in order to maximise revenues. Investigation of this novel channel for potential bias creates insight into areas for future research and considerations for regulation of proxy advisors.
The 2022 Cleary Gottlieb Prize for the Best Paper in the ECGI Law Working Paper Series has been awarded to Dorothy S. Lund (University of Southern California), and Elizabeth Pollman (University of Pennsylvania and ECGI) for their paper: "The Corporate Governance Machine" (ECGI Law Working Paper 564/2021).
The paper sheds light on the complexity of the movement to reorient corporate purpose away from shareholder primacy. The authors’ account of the corporate governance machine has wide-ranging implications for multiple conversations in corporate law, and the debate over corporate purpose in particular.
Referring to the awards, Professor Marco Becht, ECGI Executive Director said;
“The 2022 winning papers typify the valuable work being carried out by leading academics around the globe on matters of practical importance. The two papers provide insights that can make a significant contribution to current debates and inform the direction of public policy. ECGI congratulates the 2022 winners and thanks the sponsors, Intesa Sanpaolo and Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP for their support of the series.”
The awards will be presented at the “Capitalism Revisted’ conference on Friday 16th September 2022 in Milan, Italy. Registration will be open to the public, with details published on the ECGI website (www.ecgi.global).
