Public Pension Funds as Shareholder Activists: A Comment on Choi and Fisch
This Response critiques a recent Article on public pension fund shareholder activism by Stephen Choi and Jill Fisch. Choi and Fisch use the results of a survey of forty public pension funds as a basis for an empirical and normative analysis of public pension fund activism. Choi and Fisch’s survey evidence gives us some tantalizing glimpses inside the black box of public pension fund activism. At the end of the day though, we are still left with significant questions. This Response raises some of these questions, critiquing the representativeness of Choi and Fisch’s sample, their interpretation of the survey results on litigation and non-litigation activism, and the “right” place for public pension funds in the spectrum of shareholder activists.
Responding to On Beyond CalPERS: Survey Evidence on the Developing Role of Public Pension Funds in Corporate Governance by Stephen J. Choi and Jill E. Fisch