Environmental Sustainability
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- 29 Oct 2018
- Working Paper Summaries
Public Sentiment and the Price of Corporate Sustainability
Public opinions from industry experts are important in the economy but it has not been clear how they affect the valuation of and returns to corporate activities. Using big data and machine learning, this paper analyzes how public sentiment influences the market pricing of firms’ sustainability activities and thereby the future stock returns of portfolios that integrate environmental, social, and governance data.
- 06 Sep 2018
- Cold Call Podcast
Should US Companies Still Care About the Paris Climate Change Agreement?
American President Donald Trump pulled out of the 2015 Paris agreement on climate change one year ago. Vincent Pons discusses what it means for US business leaders in confronting environmental challenges. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 22 Aug 2018
- Working Paper Summaries
Sustainability and Green Business in Latin America During Globalization Waves
Capitalism has created much wealth, but at the cost of massive ecological destruction. This has been particularly severe in Latin America over the past century. Yet the last three decades have also seen a wave of businesses across sectors ranging from beauty to eco-tourism aimed at greater sustainability.
- 19 Jun 2018
- Research Event
Has Environmental Sustainability Lost its Relevance?
Companies have thought for decades about business-focused solutions to fix the deteriorating environment. But judging by continually rising waters and temperatures, we may need a rethink about what sustainability means, suggest participants at a recent conference at Harvard Business School. A report by co-organizer Geoffrey Jones. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 05 Apr 2018
- Cold Call Podcast
How a Coal Polluter Became a Renewable Energy Leader
Enel, Italy’s state-owned power company, was one of Europe’s largest coal users and polluters. Now it is recognized as a leader in renewable energy services. Mark Kramer discusses how CEO Francesco Starace drove the huge strategy shift. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 04 Apr 2018
- Research & Ideas
Smart Cities are Complicated and Costly: Here's How to Build Them
When governments take on a smart city project, it's often the private sector that's left to execute the vision—sometimes at the expense of good public policy. John Macomber proposes a roadmap that considers situation, solution, and sovereignty. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 04 Apr 2018
- Op-Ed
Op-Ed: Why Private Investors Must Fund 'New Nuclear' Power Right Now
Joseph Lassiter has high hopes for “new nuclear” technology, which he believes can meet the world’s urgent demand for power. But its success requires big, immediate investments from the private sector. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 19 Mar 2018
- Sharpening Your Skills
8 Ways To Be An Environmentally Conscious Manager
What does it mean to bring your individual environmental values to work every day? Here's how eco-friendly managers can practice what they preach. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 07 Nov 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Business and Sustainability: New Business History Perspectives
This paper provides a long-term business history perspective on sustainability, arguing that it is now matter of urgency to make sustainability a mainstream topic in business history.
- 28 Aug 2017
- Research & Ideas
Should Industry Competitors Cooperate More to Solve World Problems?
George Serafeim has a theory that if industry competitors collaborated more, big world problems could start to be addressed. Is that even possible in a market economy? Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 22 Aug 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Investors as Stewards of the Commons?
This paper lays out a framework suggesting that index investors and adequately funded asset owners are a potential mechanism to build and sustain pre-competitive collaborations for addressing environmental and social issues. With long time horizons and significant common ownership of companies within the same industry or supply chain, investors could serve as vehicles for the establishment and/or stability of collaborations between companies.
- 05 Jul 2017
- What Do You Think?
Can Innovation Save Us From Ourselves?
SUMMING UP Can technology save the world from its most pressing problems? James Heskett's readers aren't overly optimistic. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 21 Jun 2017
- Book
Meet the Oddball Entrepreneurs Who Invented Green Businesses
Historians have hardly noticed the fringe-of-society entrepreneurs who gave birth to the green business movement starting in the 19th century. In a new book, Profits and Sustainability: A History of Green Entrepreneurship, Geoffrey Jones chronicles the pioneers of healthy food, alternative energy, and alternative living. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 31 May 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Stock Price Synchronicity and Material Sustainability Information
This paper seeks to understand and provide evidence on the characteristics of emerging accounting standards for sustainability information. Given that a large number of institutional investors seek sustainability data and have committed to using it, it is increasingly important to develop a robust accounting infrastructure for the reporting of such information.
- 15 Mar 2017
- Lessons from the Classroom
More Than 900 Examples of How Climate Change Affects Business
MBA students participating in Harvard Business School’s Climate Change Challenge offer ideas on how companies can negate impacts from a changing environment. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 13 Mar 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
Why and How Investors Use ESG Information: Evidence from a Global Survey
Survey data from more than 400 senior investment professionals provides insights into why and how investors use environmental, social, and governance (ESG) information as well as the challenges in using this information. This study also documents what investors believe will be important ESG styles in the future.
- 30 Jan 2017
- Working Paper Summaries
The Environmental Legacies of The North Face's Doug Tompkins and Patagonia's Yvon Chouinard
The contrasting strategies taken by founders of Patagonia and The North Face provide a new lens on current debates about the ability of business to contribute to environmentalism. This paper suggests that the strategies of both founders bring positive environmental benefits but with trade-offs and limitations. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.
- 09 Aug 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Shareholder Activism on Sustainability Issues
Shareholder proposals on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) topics have more than doubled in the last two decades. Testing the effect that ESG proposals have on firms’ subsequent ESG performance and market valuation, the authors find a considerable portion (42 percent) of ESG proposals to be financially beneficial and associated with subsequent increases in environmental and social performance, too. Managers need to identify significant sustainability issues, based on their industry, wisely because errors could be value-destroying as the authors show declines in financial value for the rest of the sample (58 percent).
- 01 Jul 2016
- Working Paper Summaries
Entrepreneurs and the Co-Creation of Ecotourism in Costa Rica
Costa Rica has grown as a mecca for ecotourism from the late twentieth century. Although biologists and other students of ecosystems and biodiversity were vital at the start of the process, as were conservation NGOs and the national government, this paper argues that entrepreneurs were also pivotal. While showing the benefits of ecotourism, it is also shown that as the industry scaled, there were increasing challenges of greenwashing.
8 Ways to Make Olympic Stadiums Useful After the Games End
For many cities that host the Olympic Games, the central stadium is nothing more than a white elephant after the competition ends. Stephen A. Greyser and Isao Okada pinpoint actions cities can take to give them new life. Open for comment; Comment(s) posted.