Mobilizing Engagement in Diversity
Prof. Liang Hao
Associate Professor of Finance,
Singapore Management University
Date: 16 May 2025 (Friday)
Time: 14:00-15:30
Venue: E22-2018
Host: Prof. Brenda Yang ZHANG, Associate Professor in Business Economics
Abstract
We examine the effectiveness of sovereign wealth funds (SWFs) as a hybrid alternative to traditional government regulation and purely market-based mechanisms for addressing social externalities. Leveraging a 2021 campaign by the world’s largest SWF to promote board gender diversity, we show that its engagement mobilized other responsible investors to allocate capital to targeted firms—particularly those with limited institutional ownership—thereby lowering their cost of capital and triggering positive stock market reactions. The inflow of responsible capital reinforced collective engagement efforts, a dynamic not observed in similar campaigns led by commercial investors. Overall, our findings highlight the promise of a state-backed yet market-compatible mechanism for achieving socially desirable outcomes through investor mobilization.
Speaker
Prof. Hao LIANG is an Associate Professor of Finance and the Co-Director of Singapore Green Finance Centre at Singapore Management University (SMU), where he is also the recipient of Ho Bee Professorship in Sustainability Management, BNP Paribas Fellowship, DBS Sustainability Fellowship, and Lee Kong Chian Fellowship. He is an extramural fellow of Tilburg University, and serves as a member of European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI), the Steering Committee of Impact & Sustainable Finance Faculty Consortium, the Scientific Committee of Geneva Centre for Philanthropy, the Technical Committee for Environmental Management and Sustainable Finance of Enterprise Singapore, and China ESG30 Forum. His research interests include sustainable finance, impact investing, corporate finance and governance. He has published on prestigious academic journals including Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Finance, Journal of International Business Studies, Management Science, Organization Science, and Journal of Business Venturing. He is the Section Editor (Finance & Business Ethics) of Journal of Business Ethics, an Associate Editor of Management Science, Journal of Business Research, Asia-Pacific Journal of Financial Studies, and British Accounting Review, and on the editorial review board of Strategic Management Journal.
All are welcome!
