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Clarity comments on Call for information, examples, case studies and analysis: votes and shareholder resolutions v.s. divestment for social and environmental outcomes - Less Wrong Discussion

-1 Post author: Clarity 05 May 2016 12:08AM

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Comment author: James_Miller 05 May 2016 12:32:03AM *  12 points [-]

Very little published academic literature exists on the consequences of divestment.

This is because most people who study finance would put a very high probability on the consequences being zero. If my college refuses to buy from a firm it hurts that firm a little, but if it refuses to buy stock in a firm it does that firm zero harm. The best evidence is that while firms frequently advertise to get people to buy their products, they almost never advertise to get people to buy their stock. The value of a firm's stock is determined by what the big players in the market think are the long-term fundamentals of this stock.

Comment author: Clarity 05 May 2016 12:50:42AM -1 points [-]

I think it's a bit more complicated than that. However, my overall impression is that engagement with management, followed by resolutions/voting/proxy-battles, followed by divestment as a last option, is a dominant strategy than just blanket divestment.

Second, even if small companies did suffer through divestment there is nothing to stop the larger fossil fuel firms simply using their cash flow and borrowing capabilities to purchase their now cheaper and more vulnerable rivals. So rather than divestment hurting the large amoral multinational fossil fuel companies and its remaining investors, it provides an opportunity for them to control and consolidate the industry further, potentially reaping more dividends from the act of consolidation.

Ironically, it appears divestment creates perverse incentives for people to invest more in fossil fuels.