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Manuscript Type Empirical Research Question/Issue Previous studies, primarily based on evidence from the United States, fail to link shareholder activism to firm performance, with one explanatory factor being that the legal and regulatory system in the United States limits the anti‐director rights of shareholders. This study is motivated by the question of whether legally binding shareholder resolutions can pressure management to improve firm performance and to enhance firm value. Research Findings/Insights By investigating 135 publicly listed Japanese firms which received shareholder resolutions from 2004 to 2010, this study finds supportive evidence for shareholder proposals. Announcement‐associated abnormal returns are higher for firms receiving election‐related proposals by large sponsors, than those unrelated to board election. Furthermore, an improving trend begins to appear in the post‐resolution year, particularly significant for firms receiving proposals to remove board members. Theoretical/Academic Implications This study provides new evidence suggesting that large shareholder activism in Corporate Japan can perform roles that used to be played by main banks before the 1990s. It also suggests that in countries where there is no active takeover market, large shareholders can effectively discipline entrenched management through active engagement. Practitioner/Policy Implications This study offers insights to corporate managers on the importance of communicating with large shareholders and addressing their concerns.

This study provides empirical evidence on the mechanisms through which financial literacy may be associated with saving for retirement, in the three phases of the decision-making process – information perception, information search and evaluation, and decision-making and implementation. The results indicate that financial literacy has significantly positive effects on one's awareness of post-retirement financial needs, comparing alternatives when purchasing financial products, displaying fewer present-time bias, and planning for and setting aside funds for retirement. Financial literacy not only directly contributes to planning for the future, but also indirectly via a reduction in behavioral biases.

This study investigated whether overconfidence with respect to one's financial literacy affects stock market participation and retirement preparation and if so, how. Using an effective sample of 12,653 Japanese individuals, the empirical results confirm that financial literacy plays a positive role, while confidence in financial literacy also matters. For people with relatively low financial literacy, overconfidence can encourage taking financial action, while for people with high financial literacy, underconfidence can deter action. Confidence could have an effect equal to or greater than financial literacy. Moreover, it was also found that the positive effect of overconfidence is weaker for women than for men.

This paper investigated the impact of M&As on both the acquiring firms' stock prices and corporate performance by using evidence from 20 Taiwanese corporations. Our data suggest that the accounting performance of Taiwanese acquiring firms failed to meet the stock market's expectation of future improvements in the operations of the acquiring firms. The stock market reacted in favor of the announcements of M&As, however, there is a downward change in the acquiring firms' profitability from premerger to postmerger periods. However we do not find any significant correlation between stock returns and the change in accounting performance, which is different from some previous studies.