Board Dynamics and Shareholder Engagement: Exploring Culture, Responsiveness and Value Creation

This dissertation examines how internal board dynamics and external shareholder pressures jointly shape corporate governance and firm outcomes. Drawing on textual and archival data from S&P 1500 firms, the three chapters show that board culture and managerial responsiveness play an important role in explaining variation in firm value and in how firms engage with shareholder demands. Together, the findings highlight the relevance of board-level cultural attributes for understanding corporate behavior and demonstrate how firms both influence, and are influenced by, shareholder activism.