2020
Working Paper
HBS Working Paper Series

Measuring the Cost of Corporate Water Usage

By: DG Park, George Serafeim and T. Robert Zochowski

Format:Print
| Language:English
| Pages:15

Abstract

We develop a methodology that calculates the impact that organizations have on the environment through their water consumption relating to water stress risk. Using the methodology, we derive estimates for four companies that show how assumptions on the geographic location of the water withdrawal and use of different prices for water across geographies lead to variation in these estimates. We conclude with a framework guiding a user to understand the conditions under which a methodology might lead to over- or underestimation of water costs.

Keywords

Water; Water Management; Environment; Sustainability; Environmental Impact; Impact-Weighted Accounts; IWAI; Organizations; Environmental Sustainability; Valuation

Citation

Park, DG, George Serafeim, and T. Robert Zochowski. "Measuring the Cost of Corporate Water Usage." Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 21-036, September 2020.