As an MBA student at HBS, you will prepare yourself for leadership in a rapidly changing world in which natural resources are increasingly scarce and the threat of climate change ever more urgent.
What Does an ESG Score Really Say About a Company?
- 21 JUL 2021
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- Research & Ideas
A key gauge in the $30 trillion sustainable investment market provides a murky picture of corporate social responsibility. Research by Anywhere Sikochi and George Serafeim probes the underlying factors.
The Changing Role of Business in Society
- 2021
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- Working Paper
Business interaction with the U.S. government, historically based on securing industry or company special interests at the expense of the public god, has enabled and furthered government dysfunction. Gridlock within the American political system has precluded the enactment of badly needed policy solutions, which exacerbates Americans’ declining quality of life, as measured by the Social Progress Imperative’s Social Progress Index. In previous work with Katherine Gehl, I explain that the U.S. political system operates as a duopoly, which enables unhealthy competition based on ideology rather than policy solutions. I now expand on this thesis to explore the complicity of business, which is the main funder of the U.S. political system, in enabling duopolistic competition, which has worsened citizen quality of life and harms U.S. competitiveness, and the overall business environment. Put simply, government is not working for anyone. Encouragingly, business is beginning to accept its responsibility to society. The very nature of business competition is shifting, as companies work to address social and economic needs through profitable business models, thereby creating shared value.
Material Sustainability Information and Stock Price Informativeness
- JULY 2021
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- Journal of Business Ethics
As part of the SEC’s revision of Regulation S-K, many investors proposed the mandatory disclosure of sustainability information in the form of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data. However, progress is contingent on collecting evidence regarding which sustainability disclosures are financially material. To inform this issue, we examine materiality standards developed by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB). We find firms voluntarily disclosing more SASB-identified sustainability information have higher stock price informativeness. In contrast, sustainability disclosures not identified as material by SASB are not associated with informativeness. Our result is robust to including controls for sustainability performance ratings, analyst forecasts, insider trading, institutional ownership, earnings quality, and other voluntary disclosure activity. Changes in material sustainability disclosure are followed by changes in stock price informativeness. Differences-in-differences estimates suggest that following the release of SASB standards, the treatment group of firms increased SASB-identified sustainability disclosure relative to the control group of firms and that the treatment group experienced an increase in stock price informativeness. The results are stronger for firms with higher exposure to sustainability issues, greater institutional and socially responsible investment fund ownership, and coverage from analysts with lower portfolio complexity. Moreover, we document intra-industry information transfers to firms with low SASB-identified sustainability disclosure in industries where firms have higher SASB-identified sustainability disclosure.
Accounting for Product Impact in the Pharmaceuticals Industry
- 2021
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- Working Paper
We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the pharmaceuticals industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates of accessible product provision and efficacy, among other factors. Our results indicate substantial differences in the impact that competitors have through their products. These differences demonstrate how impact reflects corporate strategy and informs decision-making on industry-specific areas.
Making a Marketplace for Captured Carbon: Steve Oldham, Carbon Engineering
- 20 MAY 2021
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- Climate Rising
Many of the innovators we’ve spoken with this season are launching technologies or
business models that produce less carbon than status quo approaches – leather made
from mushrooms instead of cows, for example, and vehicles that run on electricity
instead of fossil fuels. Other guests are finding new ways to finance those new technologies
or business models. In this episode, we meet Steve Oldham, the CEO of Carbon Engineering,
who is tackling climate change from a different angle – by developing a technology
that captures carbon already in the air. The potential benefits of this approach are
huge, but the challenges are at this point significant.
Many of the innovators we’ve spoken with this season are launching technologies or
business models that produce less carbon than status quo approaches – leather made
from mushrooms instead of cows, for example, and vehicles that run on electricity
instead of fossil fuels. Other guests are finding new ways to finance those new technologies
or business models. In this episode, we meet Steve Oldham, the CEO of Carbon Engineering,
who is tackling climate change from a different angle – by developing a technology
that captures carbon already in the air. The potential benefits of this approach are
huge, but the challenges are at this point significant.
An advanced curriculum for corporate and nonprofit executives from all over the world to prepare them for new levels of leadership.
The Business & Environment Initiative connects alumni with students, faculty, and each other for learning, careers, and impact.
Companies Serious About Reaching Net Zero Carbon Should Do This, Says Harvard's Gandhi
Re: Vikram Gandhi
- 20 Jul 2021
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- Bloomberg Quint
Will Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Galactic Jaunt Boost Space Tourism?
Re: Matthew Weinzierl
- 11 Jul 2021
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- Economist
HBS Announces Its 2021-2022 Blavatnik Fellows
Re: Peter Barrett
- 02 Jun 2021
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- Harvard Business School