Essays on Shareholder Engagement and Voting

Abstract

Navigating through a PhD is like walking alone on a dark winter night. The kindness I have encountered along the way is the twinkling stars that accompany me and guide me in the darkness. For that, I am forever grateful. First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to my main supervisor, Geir Drage Berentsen, who has patiently guided me on the path to becoming a researcher. I would also like to extend my appreciation to my co-supervisor, Håkon Otneim, for answering my questions with a statistician’s mindset. Additionally, I’m thankful to Harald Edquist, my master thesis supervisor at Ericsson, who encouraged me to pursue a PhD in the first place. This thesis has benefited greatly from being part of the Climate Futures research project. The funding provided through the project has enabled me to collect data crucial to my research as well as traveling to conferences where I have received invaluable feedback on my work. I would like to thank Øyvind Paasche, the project lead of Climate Futures, who inspired me to dream bigger. Through this project, I have also received helpful comments from the industry partner KLP and Lars Erik Mangset who showed genuine interest in my research. I am grateful for the generous help I have received from my coauthors and colleagues at the Department of Business and Management Science at NHH. Trond M. Døskeland, thank you for enriching our discussions with your sharp insights. André Wattø Sjuve, thank you for sharing your knowledge and skills without the slightest reservation. Andreas Ørpetveit, thank you for challenging me and motivating me to rethink my beliefs. Steffen Juranek, thank you for having faith in me even when I didn’t. Giacomo Benini, thank you for treating me as an equal even though you are obviously smarter. Arnt Ove Hopland, thank you for placing trust in me in relation to TA responsibilities. To all the kind colleagues who have stopped to say hi and talk to me in the lounge room, your smile always lights up my day.

I wouldn’t have completed this PhD project without the support of my dear friends and office mates. Oshni, I feel incredibly lucky to have you as a friend. I have learned so much from our casual conversations and your input has contributed non-negligibly to the formation of my research interests. Thomas, thank you for being such a good friend. The compassion you have shown makes me want to believe in humanity again. Andrés, thank you for countless good laughs at lunch and during many hikes. Costanza, thank you for all the fun memories we had together. Chunzi, thank you for checking on me with sincere concerns. Samaneh, thank you for sending your warm and kindhearted regards. Torstein, thank you for never failing to be the nicest guy on campus. Vegard, thank you for showing me how to make the “best” oatmeal in the world. Rasmus, thank you for always bringing cheerful energy into the room. Kyriaki, thank you for many enjoyable lunches and chats. Yue, thank you for helping me settle down in Bergen. There are many others I can’t possibly name here, but you reside in my heart. To my husband, Shaobo, I owe my unspoken gratitude. My decision to pursue a PhD in Bergen was selfish, but you supported it nevertheless. Thank you for choosing to build a home with me, despite all of my imperfections. To my parents, I am deeply indebted to your foresight regarding the importance of reading and learning. When I connect the dots in my life, I’ve come to realize how decisive those carefree days in my childhood were spent reading random books. Lastly, I want to say that self-doubt, or the capability of introspection, is what makes us human. To you who never stop asking “am I good enough?”, you are truly great, if only you could allow yourself to see it. Bergen, December 2023 Xuan Li