Book contents
- Reviews
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Forewords
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I Global Business and Fragmented Regulation
- Part II Corporate Law, Financial Markets and Sustainability
- Part III Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability: Case Studies
- 10 Progress Is Possible
- 11 Green but Not Enough
- 12 The Australian Paradox
- 13 Moving beyond Virtue Signalling
- 14 The EU as a Potential Norm Creator for Sustainable Corporate Groups
- 15 Market-Led Sustainability through Information Disclosure
- 16 Law, Culture and Sustainability
- 17 Stakeholder Value versus Corporate Sustainability
- 18 Worker Participation, Sustainability and the Puzzle of the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal
- 19 Corporate Sustainability and Shareholder Activism in the Netherlands
- 20 Old-Fashioned yet Innovative
- 21 The Unsuccessful Pursuit for Sustainability in Italian Business Law
- 22 Sustainability and the Transformation of the Socialist Corporation into the Private Corporation
- 23 Limited Demand, Limited Supply
- 24 The Pacific Alliance
- 25 Social Environmentalism and Corporate Capture
- 26 The Social and Ethics Committee
- 27 Reforming the Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector
- 28 Enlightenment or Resistance?
- 29 The Community Company as a Vehicle for Sustainability in Solomon Islands
- 30 What Does It Mean to Be Sustainable?
- 31 Shareholder Voting and Corporate Sustainability in China
- 32 Corporate Governance Reform, Social Norms and Sustainability in Japanese Companies
- 33 Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in India
- 34 Sustainability and Legislated Corporate Social Responsibility in Indonesia
- 35 Islamic Financial Institutions and Corporate Sustainability
- 36 Leaders or Laggards?
- Part IV Potential Drivers for Change
- Conclusion
- Index
19 - Corporate Sustainability and Shareholder Activism in the Netherlands
from Part III - Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability: Case Studies
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 November 2019
- Reviews
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- The Cambridge Handbook of Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability
- Copyright page
- Dedication
- Contents
- Contributors
- Forewords
- Preface
- Introduction
- Part I Global Business and Fragmented Regulation
- Part II Corporate Law, Financial Markets and Sustainability
- Part III Corporate Law, Corporate Governance and Sustainability: Case Studies
- 10 Progress Is Possible
- 11 Green but Not Enough
- 12 The Australian Paradox
- 13 Moving beyond Virtue Signalling
- 14 The EU as a Potential Norm Creator for Sustainable Corporate Groups
- 15 Market-Led Sustainability through Information Disclosure
- 16 Law, Culture and Sustainability
- 17 Stakeholder Value versus Corporate Sustainability
- 18 Worker Participation, Sustainability and the Puzzle of the Volkswagen Emissions Scandal
- 19 Corporate Sustainability and Shareholder Activism in the Netherlands
- 20 Old-Fashioned yet Innovative
- 21 The Unsuccessful Pursuit for Sustainability in Italian Business Law
- 22 Sustainability and the Transformation of the Socialist Corporation into the Private Corporation
- 23 Limited Demand, Limited Supply
- 24 The Pacific Alliance
- 25 Social Environmentalism and Corporate Capture
- 26 The Social and Ethics Committee
- 27 Reforming the Nigerian Oil and Gas Sector
- 28 Enlightenment or Resistance?
- 29 The Community Company as a Vehicle for Sustainability in Solomon Islands
- 30 What Does It Mean to Be Sustainable?
- 31 Shareholder Voting and Corporate Sustainability in China
- 32 Corporate Governance Reform, Social Norms and Sustainability in Japanese Companies
- 33 Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in India
- 34 Sustainability and Legislated Corporate Social Responsibility in Indonesia
- 35 Islamic Financial Institutions and Corporate Sustainability
- 36 Leaders or Laggards?
- Part IV Potential Drivers for Change
- Conclusion
- Index
Summary
The involvement of companies is key for a sustainable society, but it is debated whether shareholders can stimulate the achievement of corporate sustainability goals. We investigate shareholder sustainability engagement in the Netherlands. First, we present the Dutch corporate law framework in a sustainability context. Dutch corporate law can generally be considered stakeholder-oriented. Afterwards, we present a novel empirical analysis of shareholder corporate sustainability engagement in the Netherlands using Dutch annual general meeting transcripts. We find that, although shareholders do not make use of their right to add proposals to the agenda to advocate corporate sustainability, shareholders do in fact use their right to ask questions. Our findings provide new indications that, in addition to the pivotal role of corporate boards, shareholders may be increasingly willing to play a positive role in corporate sustainability.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019
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