Owner Support for Green Shareholder Voting and Divestment

This paper examines the preferences of 10,000 capital owners worldwide, including nearly 3,000 from the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, regarding green shareholder voting and divestment. Findings indicate substantial support (53%–72%) for shareholder engagement and green voting, which is more popular and less politically divisive than divestment. Preferences for green voting increase with the likelihood of green outcomes being implemented though 63% of the payoff is attributed to expressive benefits. These results suggest that shareholder engagement and green voting could play a central role in a broader climate strategy portfolio.

This paper was accepted by Caroline Flammer, sustainability.

Funding: This work was supported by The Norwegian Finance Market Fund (Finansmarkedsfondet).

Supplemental Material: The online appendix and data files are available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2024.08186.