The right of shareholders to elect representatives to the board is one of the
most fundamental aspects of corporate governance. Nevertheless, we are unaware
of any published academic research documenting the distribution, determinants,
and consequences of shareholder votes in uncontested elections of
directors. The objective of this research is to provide such an analysis. Using
a large sample of director elections from 2003 to 2005, we test hypotheses relating
firm- and director-level performance to votes in uncontested director
elections. We also examine the link between director elections and measures of
corporate governance. Finally, we test whether voting materially affects board
memberships, governance, executive compensation, performance changes, or
reputation.