A bipartisan 501(c)(3)

A responsible business

Governance that holds up when the politics don’t.

RBI helps business leaders, investors, and policymakers build practical frameworks for responsible governance that are durable across political cycles, free from ideological labels, and grounded in financial relevance.

Read our research About RBI

Tim Doyle with Charles Crain of the National Association of Manufacturers and Representatives Bill Huizenga and Al Green after testifying before the House Financial Services Committee

RBI co-founder Tim Doyle with Charles Crain of the National Association of Manufacturers and Representatives Bill Huizenga (R-MI) and Al Green (D-TX), following their testimony before the House Financial Services Committee.

Founded in 2024 on a simple premise

Co-Founder & President

Timothy M. Doyle

A Republican lawyer. Over two decades in corporate governance, financial services, energy and environmental policy, and the federal legislative and regulatory process.

Co-Founder

Robert G. Eccles

A Democratic academic. Several decades in corporate reporting and sustainability standards. Founding chairman of the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board and Visiting Professor at the University of Oxford.

Companies are caught between a populist right skeptical of corporate engagement and a progressive left demanding more of it. RBI is a neutral forum for working out what good governance looks like in a divided America.

Publications

All publications →

Working Paper

July 17, 2026

Rule 14a-8 in Practice: A Descriptive Account from Twenty Interviews

Timothy M. Doyle and Robert G. Eccles

Twenty interviews with issuers, investors, lawyers, academics, and advocacy organizations on how the shareholder proposal process actually works, what it costs, and where participants genuinely disagree. Descriptive by design, with no recommendations.

Read the paper Read the abstract →

Open for comment. Open for comment. RBI is seeking substantive feedback on this paper through the summer, particularly on whether and how the rule should be revised and what would follow from rescinding it entirely. Responses will inform RBI's comment letter to the SEC. Please identify your role, for instance issuer, investor, lawyer, academic, or advocacy organization. As with the interviews, no individual will be identified by name. Send comments to tim@rbi-us.org or bob@rbi-us.org.

Article

October 2025

Reinterpreting Rule 14a-8: The SEC’s Renewed Standard for Corporate Purpose and Shareholder Power: Part 2

Timothy M. Doyle and Robert G. Eccles

Read the article

See all publications

Our principles

Read the full statement →

Legal clarity and regulatory certainty

Corporations, investors, asset managers, and asset owners must be able to rely on clear legal principles and stable regulations to make informed business and investment decisions.

Corporate purpose

The purpose of corporations is long-term value creation for shareholders, while acknowledging that the profit motive is consistent with a corporation’s ability to consider the environment in which it operates or the interests of its employees, customers, or suppliers.

Risk and opportunity management

All material risks and opportunities should be incorporated in strategy and capital allocation, with risks reasonably and properly disclosed to investors using clearly understood standards.

Executive responsibility and board oversight

Corporate executives are responsible for managing the company with board oversight and sensible engagement with shareholders.

Fiduciary duties

Clearly defined fiduciary duties for executives, boards, and asset managers must continue to be the paramount factor for decision-making to ensure long-term value creation.

Academic Advisory Board

Full profiles →

RBI’s Academic Advisory Board provides a trusted forum to test ideas, gather feedback, and ground our work in credible, nonpartisan expertise.

Aswath Damodaran

New York University, Stern School of Business

Chair and Professor of Finance

Jill E. Fisch

University of Pennsylvania, Carey School of Law

Professor of Business Law and Co-director of the Institute for Law and Economics

Glenn Hubbard

Columbia University, Columbia Business School

Dean Emeritus and Professor

Mary Johnstone-Louis

University of Oxford, Saïd Business School

Senior Fellow in Management Practice and Co-director of the Oxford Leading Sustainable Corporations Programme

David F. Larcker

Stanford University, Stanford Graduate School of Business

Emeritus Professor and Director of both the Rock Center for Corporate Governance & Corporate Governance Research Initiative

Colin Mayer CBE

University of Oxford, Saïd Business School

Emeritus Professor (also of Management Studies at the Blavatnik School of Government); Commander of the Order of the British Empire

Amelia Miazad

University of California Davis, Davis School of Law

Professor of Law

Shivaram Rajgopal

Columbia University, Columbia Business School

Chair and Professor of Accounting and Auditing

Amanda Rose

Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Law School

Professor of Management

Alison Taylor

New York University, Stern School of Business

Clinical Associate Professor

J.W. Verret

George Mason University, Antonin Scalia Law School

Associate Professor

Joshua White

Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management

Assistant Professor of Finance On leave from Vanderbilt and from RBI’s Advisory Board while serving as Chief Economist of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission

RBI and the Board operate independently. Institutional affiliations are listed for identification only and do not imply institutional endorsement. RBI amplifies the research and commentary of Board members on topics that align with our mission, offering an academic perspective complementary to the policy and political dimensions RBI addresses.

Support RBI today

Bringing consensus, common sense, and bipartisan policy solutions back to the table.

Get in touch about supporting RBI

Tax status

RBI is a tax-exempt organization under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. Contributions are tax-deductible to the fullest extent permitted by law.