Title: The vote is cast
Description: "This paper estimates the effect of corporate governance provisions on shareholder value and long-term outcomes in S&P1500 firms.  We apply a regression discontinuity design to shareholder votes on governance proposals in annual meetings.  A close-call vote around the majority threshold is akin to a random outcome, allowing us to deal with prior expectations and the endogeneity of internal governance rules.  Passing a corporate governance provision generates a 1.3% abnormal return on the day of the vote with an implied market value per provision of 2.8%.  We also find evidence of changes in investment behavior and long-term performance improvements"--National Bureau of Economic Research web site.