Beyond the Ballot: The Power of Shareholder Sustainability Questions at Dutch AGMs

Abstract This paper examines the effectiveness of the shareholders’ right to ask questions as a direct, yet soft tool for shareholder engagement with sustainability issues within the Dutch corporate governance landscape. Utilizing a comprehensive dataset comprising over 3,000 sustainability-related questions, remarks, and board responses from more than 400 shareholder meetings of the largest listed companies in the Netherlands, we analyze the frequency, nature, and impact of the shareholders’ right to ask questions from 2015 to 2023. Our findings reveal that different types of shareholders, including institutional investors, NGOs, retail shareholders, and representative shareholder associations, employ this tool in varied ways, aligning their approaches with their strategic objectives and using different tones of voice. The study particularly focuses on the strategic use of questioning by the Dutch Association of Investors for Sustainable Development (VBDO), demonstrating how its systematic and thematic questioning drives significant corporate sustainability commitments. This paper provides evidence that, when used effectively, shareholder questions can be a powerful mechanism for promoting corporate transparency, accountability, and sustainable practices. However, significant challenges remain in establishing further causal relationships between shareholder questions and corporate actions, highlighting the substantial scope for future research.