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This systematic literature review analyses the determinants and consequences of executive compensation-related shareholder activism and say-on-pay (SOP) votes. The review covers 71 empirical articles published between January 1995 and September 2017. The studies are reviewed within an empirical research framework that separates the reasons for shareholder activism and SOP voting dissent as input factor on the one hand and the consequences of shareholder pressure as output factor on the other. This procedure identifies the five most important groups of factors in the literature: the level and structure of executive compensation, firm characteristics, corporate governance mechanisms, shareholder structure and stakeholders. Of these, executive compensation and firm characteristics are the most frequently examined. Further examination reveals that the key assumptions of neoclassical principal agent theory for both managers and shareholders are not always consistent with recent empirical evidence. First, behavioral aspects (such as the perception of fairness) influence compensation activism and SOP votes. Second, non-financial interests significantly moderate shareholder activism. Insofar, we recommend integrating behavioral and non-financial aspects into the existing research. The implications are analyzed, and new directions for further research are discussed by proposing 19 different research questions.

The purpose of this study was to analyze whether audit committees (ACs) influence corporate social responsibility (CSR) outputs.

A structured literature review of 57 archival studies on the influence of ACs on CSR outputs was conducted. According to a stakeholder–agency theoretical framework, the AC variables were structured as follows: presence, composition and resources, incentives and diligence. CSR is mainly divided into CSR performance, CSR reporting and CSR assurance.

Previous studies have mainly focused on AC composition and CSR reporting. There are indications that AC composition and CSR performance and assurance are positively linked. Moreover, AC resources, incentives and diligence increase CSR reporting.

This study stresses the need for linking AC composition with sustainability, the inclusion of moderator and especially mediator variables and addressing endogeneity concerns via advanced regression models.

This paper reports the first literature review on the interaction between AC and CSR. It presents the main variables that have been included in previous studies, the limitations of these studies and useful recommendations for future research, business practice and regulators.

This paper aims to review empirical research on the relationship between institutional ownership (IO) and board governance (85 studies).

Based on agency and upper echelons theory, the heterogeneous monitoring function of specific types and the nature of institutional investors on board composition, compensation and chief executive officer (CEO) characteristics will be focused.

The author found that most studies have referred to archival studies, analyzed the impact of board governance on IO, focused on CEO characteristics, neglected IO heterogeneity and advanced regression models to address endogeneity concerns. In line with the theoretical framework, the relationship between total IO and board governance is heterogeneous. However, specific types such as foreign, dedicated and pressure-resistant institutions represent active monitoring tools and push for increased board governance.

The author provided useful recommendations for future research from a content and methodological perspective, e.g. the need for analyzing the impact of IO on sustainable board governance and other characteristics of top management team members, e.g. the chief financial officer.

As many regulatory bodies implemented regulations to promote shareholder rights and board governance, this literature review highlights the connections of both corporate governance mechanisms. Managers should conduct a careful and timely investor analysis and change the composition and compensation of the board of directors in line with institutional investors’ preferences.

This analysis makes useful contributions to prior research by focusing on IO and board governance, whereas the author structured the heterogeneous variables and results within the structured literature review. The authors guides researchers, regulatory bodies and business practice in this corporate governance topic.

This paper aims to analyze the impact that sustainable board governance has on corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the European capital market because of the current debate of future European regulations on the topic.

Based on a legitimacy and stakeholder theoretical framework, the author conducts a structured literature review and includes 86 quantitative peer-reviewed empirical (archival) studies on board gender diversity, sustainability board expertise and sustainability-related executive compensation and their impact on CSR variables.

Gender board diversity represents the most important variable in this literature review. The included categories of sustainable board governance positively influence both the total CSR and environmental outputs.

A detailed analysis of sustainable board governance proxies is needed in future archival research to differentiate between symbolic and substantive use of CSR. In view of the current European reform initiatives on sustainable corporate governance in line with the EU Green Deal project, future research should also analyze the interactions between the included sustainable board governance variables and their contributions to CSR.

As both stakeholder demands’ on CSR outputs and CSR washing have increased since the financial crisis of 2008–2009, firms should be aware of a substantive integration of sustainability within their boards of directors (e.g. because of composition and compensation) to increase their CSR efforts and long-term firm reputation.

This analysis makes useful contributions to prior research by focusing on sustainable board governance as a key determinant of CSR outputs on the European capital market. The European Commission’s future evidence-based regulations [e.g. the corporate sustainability reporting directive (CSRD) and the corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDD)] should be promoted.

This paper aims to analyze the governance-related and financial determinants and consequences of corporate social responsibility assurance (CSRA).

Based on a legitimacy theoretical framework and on the business case argument, the author conducts a structured literature review and includes 66 quantitative peer-reviewed empirical (archival) studies on key CSRA proxies (CSRA adoption, choice of CSR assuror and CSRA quality).

In line with the business case for CSRA, the literature review indicates that internal corporate governance, country-related governance and specific financial determinants as reporting, firm size and industry (sensitivity) have a positive impact on CSRA adoption.

A detailed analysis of CSRA proxies is needed in future archival research to differentiate between symbolic and substantive use of CSRA. In view of the current regulatory initiatives on CSR reporting and their decision usefulness, future research should also analyze in greater depth CSRA proxies as moderator and mediator variables.

With regard to the increased stakeholder demand on CSRA after the financial crisis of 2008–2009, firms should be aware of the value-added of CSRA to increase the decision usefulness of their CSR reports and firm reputation.

The analysis makes useful contributions to prior literature by focussing on empirical quantitative (archival) research method, structuring research on the business case for CSRA with respect to its governance and financial determinants and consequences for firms and stressing moderator analysis in archival CSRA research.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on audit committees’ financial and industry expertise (FIE) and their impact on the readability of key audit matters (KAMs).

Based on an agency-theoretical framework, analyses are conducted of data from a sample of UK premium listed companies for the fiscal years 2014–2017 (i.e. 1,319 firm-year observations). Correlation and regression analyses are conducted to evaluate possible associations between FIE in audit committees and KAM readability. The author relies on popular readability measures (Flesch Reading Ease and Fog Index).

Audit committees’ FIE and KAM readability are positively connected. Combined FIE also has a stronger effect than either financial or industry expertise alone.

Companies, regulators and researchers could be significantly affected by the finding that audit committees’ FIE can have a considerable impact on KAM readability.

The analysis of the link between audit committees’ FIE and KAM readability makes a contribution to prior empirical research on KAM.

This study aims to analyse the motivations and underlying assumptions of decision makers driving the adoption of sustainability-oriented targets in executive compensation (SCTs) to better understand SCTs’ impact on sustainability performance.

Through a qualitative approach, 15 in-depth interviews are conducted in a two-tier governance setting. Participants include management and supervisory board members, compensation consultants and other stakeholders involved in proxy voting.

SCT implementation is primarily determined by meeting shareholders’ expectations rather than those of other stakeholders. Decision makers react in a differentiated way to increased expectations by implementing either primarily symbolic or substantive measures and encounter different implementation challenges like insufficient data quality and a lack of experience within supervisory boards, both of which potentially contribute to decoupling.

The study offers valuable insights for companies in designing SCTs and emphasises the significance of addressing decoupling to effectively enhance sustainability performance through SCTs and provides a foundation for future studies aimed at analysing this phenomenon.

Using a neo-institutional theory lens, this study marks one of the first interview-based investigations to distinguish between symbolic and substantial SCTs. It delves deeply into the role of decoupling and the associated challenges, offering fresh perspectives within the under-researched framework of a two-tier corporate governance structure. Moreover, this study aims to meticulously capture the real-world design practices and implementation processes of SCTs through experts, an aspect that was emphasised as a limitation in previous studies.

This paper aims to analyze whether chief executive officer (CEO) incentives and characteristics (e.g. CEO power, CEO tenure) are linked with corporate social responsibility (CSR) and vice versa.

Based on upper echelons theory, the author conducts a structured literature review and evaluates 84 empirical-quantitative studies on CEO and CSR variables.

While the majority of the included studies analyzed the CEO-CSR link, there are indicators for a bidirectional relationship. Moreover, prior research has focused on CEO incentives, especially compensation contracts, and on the US capital market. A major research gap relates to CEO characteristics, e.g. CEO values, education and experience.

Heterogeneous CEO and CSR variables and endogeneity concerns lower the validity of recent studies. Future research is encouraged to implement dynamic regression models, increase CSR and CEO proxies and focus on international samples with country-specific effects.

As CEO activities can have a major impact on CSR activities, the author recommends firms to search for opportunities to make their CSR strategy more comprehensive by their stakeholder communication, thus providing deeper insights into their CSR performance in line with stakeholders’ interests.

The paper is the first literature review on the interaction between CEO and CSR so far. The author explains the main CEO and CSR variables that have been included in research, stresses the limitations of the studies and gives useful recommendations for future research, practice and regulators.

This paper aims to investigate the impact of sustainable board governance, based on (1) sustainability board committees, (2) critical mass of female board members and (3) sustainability-related executive compensation, on sustainable supply chain reporting (SSCR).

Based on stakeholder and critical mass theories, a sample of 1,577 firm-year observations for firms listed at the EuroSTOXX600 for the period 2017–2021 is used. Sustainable board governance and SSCR proxies are collected from the Refinitiv database. Correlation and logit regression analyses are conducted to measure the impact of sustainable board governance on SSCR.

Sustainable board governance significantly improves SSCR. The findings are robust to various robustness checks, based on the modification of dependent and independent variables.

Due to massive regulations on sustainability reporting, finance and corporate governance, firms listed on the EuroSTOXX 600 are focused in this analysis. The European capital market represents a unique setting for archival research.

European standard setters should connect the relationship between sustainable board governance and SSCR in future regulations, for example, due to the recent corporate sustainability reporting directive (CSRD) and corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDDD).

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this paper provides the first analysis on the impact of sustainable board governance on SSCR.

This study aims to analyze the firm- and country-related determinants and consequences on the firm value of the non-carbon-related environmental goals of the EU Taxonomy Regulation and the new European Sustainability Reporting Standards. In contrast to prior research on either total environmental or explicit carbon proxies, this work focuses on emissions, biodiversity, resource use/circular economy and water-related measures.

Based on legitimacy theory, a structured literature review drawing from 80 peer-reviewed empirical-quantitative studies was presented. As the primary contributors to environmental subitems, the results related to corporate and country governance and financial and sustainability determinants were highlighted. In alignment with the business case argument, the influence of environmental outputs on accounting- and market-based financial performance and other relevant firm proxies was focused.

Most included variables show rather inclusive significant results. However, the results clearly suggest that board gender diversity has a positive impact on environmental outputs, particularly in relation to emissions reductions and resource use efficiency/circular economy performance.

This study mainly contributes to the growing literature on corporate environmental reporting and performance. Future research should analyze related subpillars in more detail and the impact of sustainable corporate governance on these dimensions.

To the best of the author’s knowledge, this is the first empirical study on environmental performance and reporting based on the environmental topics of the EU Taxonomy Regulation.