How Much do Investors Care About Social Responsibility?

In this session, Associate Professor Hirst will discuss empirical evidence on investors' willingness to sacrifice investment returns for social purposes, and how investor preferences relate to the important current debates about social responsibility, corporate purpose, and stakeholderism.

Speakers

Scott Hirst, Associate Professor of Law, Boston University

Scott Hirst is an Associate Professor of Law at Boston University. He teaches Corporations, Corporate Governance, and Mergers & Acquisitions. His research seeks to explain phenomena in corporate law and securities regulation, and inform policy making on these subjects. He previously served as Research Director of the Program on Institutional Investors at Harvard Law School and practiced in the mergers and acquisitions group of Shearman & Sterling LLP in New York. He received Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD) and Master of Laws (LLM) degrees from Harvard Law School, and Bachelors of Commerce and Law from the University of Queensland.

Commentator: Dean Paatsch, Ownership Matters

Dean co-founded Proxy Australia, a boutique proxy voting advisory service and governance researcher in 2003.

Following the sale of Proxy Australia in 2005, Dean led the Australian office through its various ownership changes (ISS Australia, RiskMetrics and ISS Governance Services), building it into the pre-eminent Australian provider prior to his departure in August 2010.

He is the author of numerous opinion pieces, regulatory submissions and speeches and is a well known media commentator on governance issues.

Earlier in his career Dean was a commercial lawyer and subsequently the founding CEO of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) a national not-for-profit organisation whose mission is to promote and protect the interests of Australia’s $450 billion not-for-profit superannuation sector.

He holds a Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws (Hons) from the University of Melbourne and is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Victoria

Moderator: Professor Jennifer Hill, Bob Baxt AO Chair, Monash Law & Director of CLARS

Professor Jennifer Hill is the inaugural Bob Baxt AO Professor of Corporate and Commercial Law at Monash University Faculty of Law and is the Director of the Centre for Commercial Law and Regulatory Studies (CLARS). Jennifer is an internationally recognised legal scholar in the field of comparative corporate law and governance.

Jennifer is a graduate of the University of Sydney (BA LLB (Hons) and the University of Oxford (BCL). She is a research member of the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI) and has held visiting teaching and research positions at leading international institutions, including the University of Cambridge; Cornell University; Duke University; NYU Law School; University of Virginia, University of Texas, and Vanderbilt University Law School.

Contact us

Name: Janice Hugo

E-Mail: janice.hugo@monash.edu

Phone: 03 9905 3327