  Radio AGN in the nearby Universe are more likely to be found in galaxies with
early-type morphology, the detection rate in spiral or late-type galaxies
(LTGs) being around an order of magnitude lower. We combine the mJy Imaging
VLBA Exploration at 20cm (mJIVE-20) survey with the Sloan Digital Sky Survey
(SDSS), to study the relatively rare population of AGN in LTGs that have
nuclear radio luminosities similar to that in their early-type counterparts.
The LTG AGN population is preferentially hosted by galaxies that have high
stellar masses (M* > 10^10.8 MSun), red colours and low star-formation rates,
with little dependence on the detailed morphology or local environment of the
host LTG. The merger fraction in the LTG AGN is around 4 times higher than that
in the general LTG population, indicating that merging is an important trigger
for radio AGN in these systems. The red colours of our systems extend recent
work which indicates that merger-triggered AGN in the nearby Universe appear
after the peak of the associated starburst, implying that they do not strongly
regulate star formation. Finally, we find that in systems where parsec-scale
jets are clearly observed in our VLBI images, the jets are perpendicular to the
major axis of the galaxy, indicating alignment between the accretion disc and
the host galaxy stellar disc.
