We examine the issues and actors that have shaped the agenda of shareholder activism
on global social issues over the last 35 years. Our analysis of 2158 US
shareholders’ proposals on the topics of international human rights and
labor standards reveals that a clear agenda has developed, dominated by religious
organizations that have sponsored or co-sponsored 1312 of these proposals. Public
pension funds entered the field of global social issue activism after religious
organizations had already established the legitimacy of the agenda. We suggest that
a social movement perspective on shareholder activism best explains these findings.
Religious groups framed the ideas that constitute the global social issues
shareholder agenda and mobilized support by reaching out to other types of
investors. Public pension funds played a secondary, albeit important, role in agenda
creation by championing several of the campaigns initiated by religious innovators.
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