Nigerian professional investors' sense-making of the impact of shareholder activism on corporate accountability

Ashiru, Folajimi; Adegbite, Emmanuel; Nakpodia, Franklin

Abstract

This study investigates the perceptions of professional investors (PIs) on the impact of three groups of shareholder activists (i.e., reputable, sophisticated, or institutional) on corporate accountability in a weak institutional context and how this shapes the PIs’ investment recommendations. Relying on a sense-making theoretical perspective of the power and competence of shareholder activists obtained through semi-structured interviews with 27 Nigerian PIs, we reveal that the impact of shareholder activism occurs in three activism-accountability dimensions: dominant, insignificant, and emerging. Subsequently, we unpack factors that explain the power and influence of the dominant activism of reputable activists, the insignificant activism of sophisticated activists and the emerging activism of institutional activists. By advocating a contextual understanding of shareholder activism, this article sheds much-needed insights into the concept of ‘activism-accountability’ in a weak institutional environment.

Citation

Ashiru, F., Adegbite, E., & Nakpodia, F. (2023). Nigerian professional investors' sense-making of the impact of shareholder activism on corporate accountability. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 42(4), Article 107114. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2023.107114

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jun 29, 2023
• Online Publication Date: Jul 5, 2023
• Publication Date: 2023-07
• Deposit Date: Jul 24, 2023
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 6, 2025
• Journal: Journal of Accounting and Public Policy
• Print ISSN: 0278-4254
• Electronic ISSN: 1873-2070
• Publisher: Elsevier
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 42
• Issue: 4
• Article Number: 107114
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jaccpubpol.2023.107114
• Keywords: Corporate accountability, shareholder activism, sense-making, weak institutions, professional investors, Nigeria
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/23456391
• Publisher URL: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0278425423000637