02.12.2018 New Project Phase ("Projektphase") with MARG

Dear students,

Management Accounting Research Group offers a new (research-oriented) project phase: “The importance of the Annual General Meeting (AGM) as a platform for shareholder engagement”

What you can expect when you join our project:

You get the opportunity to investigate one of the most intensive discussed topics in the media, by regulators and top executives today. Collecting and analysing data on AGM in German companies you will be able to get comprehensive insight into realities of one of the important governance process – Annual General Meeting – and answer such questions as “What are the recent trends and issues around companies' AGMs in times of increasing prevalence of passive investors on the one side and aggressive hedge funds and proxy fights on the other side? Does engagement of shareholders contribute to effective corporate governance as facilitating the well-being of all stakeholders or is it futile, and frequently is just in a formal sense?”

Primary, the AGM is the principal forum in which directors account to shareholders for their stewardship of the company. But what about the praxis? What is the attendance rate at annual meetings in Germany, on average? Did it increase since active investors “discovered” German companies? Do these developments change the role and the format of the shareholders´ meeting?

Are you interested? Send email with your application to Marina Kononova (marina.kononova@wiwi.uni-marburg.de) including your current CV and transcript of records. In order to achieve more than content-related learning objectives, we encourage participants to work in groups of generally 2-3 individuals.