Mengyu Yang

I am a PhD candidate in Finance at the Stockholm School of Economics. My research focuses on corporate finance and corporate governance, with an emphasis on shareholder involvement. Specifically, I investigate how ownership structures and different types of shareholders' involvement through director nomination influence governance outcomes. My projects also explore the trade-off between active governance engagement and the need for trading liquidity. Through my work, I aim to contribute to a deeper understanding of how governance mechanisms shape corporate decision-making and accountability.

I hold an MSc in Finance from Warwick University and a BSc in Finance from Sichuan University.

I will be on the 2025-2026 job market.

Job market paper title: What happens when owners choose the board: Evidence from shareholder-dominated nomination committees

Abstract: This paper investigates the involvement of different types of shareholders in corporate governance and their impact on boards in the context of Swedish public firms, where the largest shareholders directly nominate board directors. I identify several factors that hinder investors serving on the board: the need for liquidity, limited resources, and insufficient knowledge of the local governance model. However, participation in the nomination committee (NC) allows these investors to exert governance influence without the costs associated with board membership. Exploiting a 2008 governance reform as a natural experiment, I show that shareholder involvement through the NC strengthens the sensitivity of board turnover to
firm performance and increases the probability of female board appointments. The results highlight the NC as an alternative, low-friction governance channel through which heterogeneous investor types can shape board outcomes without assuming directorship roles.

Keywords: Ownership structure, corporate governance, nomination committee, board governance.