When Do Small Shareholders Take Action Against 'Their' Firm?: A Social Identity Approach to Small Shareholder Activism

Abstract

Although shareholder activism has gained in importance over the years and a growing body of literature has investigated activism-related problems companies face, little is known about activism by small individual shareholders. We attempt to fill this void by investigating under which conditions small shareholders are likely to take action against their organizations. Building on social identity theory we suggest and discuss a series of propositions in regard of factors that are likely to trigger activism by individual small shareholders.