## Voting Methods Classification

This data was hand-collected for the following paper: Voting Methods for Director Election, Monitoring Costs, and Institutional Ownership. The sample was constructed based on S&P 1500 firms from 2005 to 2015, and the classification of voting methods was found from proxy statements at the SEC EDGAR. More details for the data and voting methods can be found in the paper (Section 2). 

The data has the following structure:

• CIK: This is the key identifier for firms. You can use this key to search filings from the SEC EDGAR. 

• DataYear: This is the year for each proxy statement for a given firm. This is based on the filing date, not the meeting date. Depending on your use of the classification (governance characteristics vs impact on the voting outcomes vs etc..), you may need the actual meeting date. The originally scheduled meeting date can be easily found from proxy statements at the SEC EDGAR, but keep in mind that the actual meeting date can be delayed or rescheduled. 

• MV: Classification of voting methods for director election

  • P: Plurality voting method specified

  • PP: Plurality plus voting method specified

  • M: Majority voting method specified

  • C: Proxy contest occurred 

Please feel free to use this data in any of your research projects. Download here!

I did my best during the data collection. However, I cannot guarantee the accuracy of the data. If you find any error, please do not hesitate to let me know. I will make a correction. Feel free to contact me if you have any question / suggestion / idea about the data.