Ch 2, 11, 13, 14 Flashcards
what is the alternative viewpoint to shareholder primacy
A corporation should exist not only to increase value for shareholders but also to address
the needs of other stakeholders
what are three names used to address the ideas that promote stakeholder primacy
- SRI – Socially Responsible Investing
- CSR – Corporate Social Responsibility
- ESG – Environmental, Social and Governance
what are hte 5 pressures that have contirbuted to the development and incorporation of ESG
- money flowing into sustainable/ESG investment funds
- ESG related shareholder proposals
- Big institutional investrors such as blackrock have advocated for it
- ESG metrics are being used to rate corporation and stakeholder interaction
- Employee activism
related to the business round table, what was said in relation to the purpose of a corporation (5)
- deliver value to customer
- invest in our emloyees
- deal fairly and ethically with our suppliers
- support communities in which we work
- generate long-term value for shareholders
in what case were stakeholders’ interests addressed in canada
addressed in hte BCE case which created a binding legal precedent
what was considered in the BCE case when a conlcusion was made
the directors should conider the interests of hareholders, employees, creditors, consumers, governments and the environment to inform their decisions
bill c-97 was passed in canada and stated that directors are not limited to acting only in the best intersts of _______ but should also consider the intersts of _________
shareholders, stakeholders
a legal implication in hte US was the delaware law, what was the main idea in this?
directors must make shareholder
welfare their sole end, and that other interests may be taken into account
only as a means of promoting shareholder welfare
what was the opinion of skadden arp, a big US law firm on the Delaware law
the shareholder primacy path does not stop a for profit company in taking interest in social issues as song as those social issues come second to shareholder value maximization
do erliable metrics exist in assessing stakeholder innitiatives and their effectiveness
no
what is the greatest challenge directors face in reporting over ESG
lack of uniform disclosure standards
what are some additional disclosures taht companies prepare for esg at a lack of uniform standards
- sustainability reports
- human capital reports - diversity
- climate chage impact reports
who else might provide stakeholders and shareholders with information or rankings on company’s ESG?
aggregators such as
- bloomberg
- corporate responsibility mag
- ethisphere institute
- furtune
- newsweek
what are three companies that issue esg ratings
- HIP human impact + profit
- TruValue Labs
- Sustainalytics
what does the HIP human impact + profit analyze
32 esg factors such as CEO pay, emissions, gender diversity
what does truvalue tabs analyze
evaluates on 26 dimensions through AI technology
what does sustainaltics analyze
corporate governance risk, material ESG issue risks, and idiosyncratic ESG issue risk
what are 8 issues with ESG ranking and ratings
- no uniform standards
- information is volunteered by companies, not uniformly disclosed
- how is weighting of importance determined
- no clear relationship between ratings and stock perfromcne
- different methodologies of rankinng
- making qualitative factors, quantitative
- no audits
- tying it to executive compensation makes it more of an issue
what are 3 governance ratings methodologies
- institution of shareholder sevices
- MSCI ESG Gov metrics
- MSCI ESG AGR model
what does the institution of shareholder sevices do
scores companies out of 100 on 65 variable put into 8 categories of
- Board of Directors,
- audit, charter and bylaws,
- state in incorporation,
- executive and director compensation,
- qualitative factors,
- equity ownership by management
- Board and director education
what is the MSCI ESG Gov metrics
scores companies on 96 dimensions which are placed into 4 pillars of:
- board
- compensation
- ownership and control
- accounting
what is the MSCI ESG AGR model
the Accounting and Governance Risk model is a rating system based on financial reporting methodolgy and audit integrity whcih measures variation in reporting
scores companies as very aggressive, aggressive, average or conservative
has ceo activism increased in recent years and on which companies is it concenntraed
yes and it is concentrated among the largest US companies
what is the issue with CEO activism
it is a double edged sword depending on what the CEO is advocating for
what does the public beleve the CEO should advoate for
- environment
- health
- pverty
- taxes
what does the public beleve the CEO should NOT advoate for
- gun control
- abortion
- politics
- religion
corporate debt creates what?
ways in which corporates are monitored
what 3 types of monitoring come from corporate debt
- disciplinary mechanism
- monitoring by institutional lenders
- monitoring and debt rating from credit agencies
Managers of firms with substantial cash flows and little debt have less or more consequences over their mistakes?
less
describe how debt is a disciplinary mechanism
- having no debt makes you complacent, and forcing a firm to take on debt battles this
- having debt means a firm has to make periodic interest payments. this fixed obligation imposes disclipline on the managemtn
- interest payments also discourage excessive expenditure to that is to the discreeion of managemnt
- the creditor can use the court system if payments are not made
- debt contracts require collaterals by the borrowers
- debt contracts have covenants that if broken require the firm repay the principal immediately
which offers better protection to investors, equity or debt?
defenitely debt
how can debt be negative for a firm
it restricts managemnt from being flexible to spend when an opportunity suddenly arises
lists 2 ways institutional lenders such as banks are corporate monitors
- firm will get favorable interst rates when it discloses private information
- firm will agree tto numerous covenants to get favorable loan
what 2 variable is the expected cost of bankruptcy based on
- the actual cost of going bankrupt
- the probability of bankruptcy, which will depend upon how uncertain you are
about future cash flows
what are the direct and indirect costs of going bankrupt
- direct - legal and other deadweight costs
- indirect - costs arising because peple believe you will go bankrupt
cresitros might be seen as investeors into the company, but htey are actually not - why is that and what does taht mean regarding their intersts
they are not investors, they are technically lending money to hte stockholders that are owners ot teh company - thus they have different objectives for hte firm
what 2 differing objective cause the agency cost of debt between stockholders and creditors
- You (as lender) are interested in getting your money back
- Stockholders are interested in maximizing your wealth
stockholders want to invest in _______ projects, and pay themselves _______
risky and dividends
how do agency costs show up
if bondholders expect shareholders to act in self serving ways they will take into consideration and increase the price of the bonds in hte market
covenants written in protect bondholders, but cause the 2 follwoing underlying costs
- direct cost of coventants increases as they become more restrictive
- indirect cost of lost investment aht would have been taken on were it not for costly debt
what is a credit rating agency
a company that assesses the financial
strength of companies and government entities, especially their
ability to meet principal and interest payments on their debts.
what do teh raitings assigned from agencies show
an agency’s level of
confidence that the borrower will honor its debt obligations as
agreed.
what role do credit agencies play in corporate governance
- help investors sift through a lot of infomation
- provide detailed reports that highlight risks
- play a monitoring role in tracking the performance of compnies
- outlining hte risk involved with lendign to a specific place
what are investment grade bond lettering
- AAA down to BBB
what are specualtive grade bond lettering
- BB down to C
what is a junk bond
debt that has been given a low credit rating by a ratings agency, below investment grade.
junk bonds are also called ____ yield bonds because
beause they are such high risk, the investors are compensated with higher interest rates
S&P, Fitch and moody’s provide what for bonds
ratings
what 4 components doe the s&P provide governance scores on
- Ownership structure and influence
- Financial stakeholder rights
- Financial transparency and information disclosure
- Board structure and process
how are equity analysts an additional external governence mechanism
look at a firm’s operating and financial conditions, the firm’s
immediate and long-term future prospects, the effectiveness of its
management team, and the general outlook of the industry and give their recomnedations
what 5 factors affect the busubninss environemtn in different countries
- Efficiency of local capital markets
- Protections afforded by legal system enforcement
- Reliability of accounting standards
- Enforcement of regulations
- Societal and cultural values
When capital markets are efficient, prices (labor, capital, and natural resources) are what and what does this improve
they are “correct” thus improvign decision making
how do efficient markets discipline corporations (4)
- Poor decisions are punished.
- Stock prices decline.
- Cost of capital increases.
- Risk of bankruptcy or being taken over increases
efficient markets protect against 2 specified things
adverse selection and moral hazard
based on a Cosset, Some, and Valery (2016), the impact on efficient markets on corporate governance is what and why
firms competing in highly competitive industries have
higher corporate governance ratings than those in less competitive
industries
because competition heightens the need for companies to
demonstrate governance quality in order to obtain external financing
if a country lacks efficeint markets what 4 things might take its place and do they also discipline?
- Wealthy families
- Large banking institutions
- Other companies
- Governments
they also discipline to protect their investments
what sort of business groups are prevelent in weaker capital markets
family business groups
what positives does a legal system offer to businesses
- Protection of property against expropriation.
- Predictability of how claims will be resolved.
- Enforceability of contracts.
- Efficiency and honesty of judiciary.
is a stron legal system able to mitigate agency costs?
yes
what happens to the stock of firms that operate in coutniees that protect minority interests in sotkc
they are higher