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- 2022
- Working Paper
The Issuance and Design of Sustainability-linked Loans
By: Maria Loumioti and George Serafeim
Sustainability-linked loans (i.e., syndicated loans for which pricing is linked to a sustainability performance indicator) have rapidly evolved into a significant private debt product. We find that sustainability-linked lending has been available mostly to borrowers...
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- October 2022
- Case
Sustainable Finance at Itau BBA
By: George Serafeim, Maria Loumioti and Benjamin Maletta
As of August 2022, the Itau BBA had structured dozens of sustainability linked bonds, which made future interest payments a function of the borrower meeting a target for a sustainability metric, and had solidified its reputation as a pioneer of sustainable finance in...
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Keywords:
Sustainable Finance;
Corporate Social Responsibility;
Environmental Sustainability;
Growth Strategy;
Debt Contracting;
Performance Metrics;
Risk Assessment;
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance;
Financial Instruments;
Risk Management;
Debt Securities;
Measurement and Metrics;
Banking Industry;
Pulp and Paper Industry;
Latin America
- September–October 2022
- Article
The Essential Link Between ESG Targets and Financial Performance
By: Mark R. Kramer and Marc W. Pfitzer
Despite heightened attention to environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues, surprisingly few companies are making meaningful progress in delivering on their commitments. Most firms are not integrating ESG factors into internal strategy and operational decisions...
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- 2022
- Book
Purpose + Profit: How Business Can Lift Up the World
By: George Serafeim
The roadmap and best practices to reap the enormous value that can emerge when your business prioritizes social and environmental goals—such as climate change, diversity and inclusion, and sustainability—right alongside the pursuit of profit.
We not only... View Details
We not only... View Details
- June 2022
- Case
Business Implications from Regulating Carbon Emissions in the EU
By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta
In the beginning of the 21st century, the European Union (the EU) had led the global fight against climate change with a wide array of policy measures. The EU’s primary approach to climate policy had been taxation via the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU...
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- 2022
- Article
Which Corporate ESG News Does the Market React To?
By: George Serafeim and Aaron Yoon
Using a dataset that classifies firm-level ESG news as positive and negative, we examine how stock prices react to different types of ESG news. We analyze 111,020 firm-day observations for 3,126 companies and find that prices react only to issues identified as...
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- February 1, 2022
- Article
Business Schools Must Do More to Address the Climate Crisis
By: Concepción Galdón, Knut Haanaes, Daniel Halbheer, Jennifer Howard-Grenville, Katell Le Goulven, Mike Rosenberg, Peter Tufano and Amelia Whitelaw
Business schools have much to contribute to the fight against climate change. They are experts in organizational transformation, performance measurement, operations, marketing, leadership, and governance. A group of eight business schools has come together to find...
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- 2022
- Working Paper
ESG: Hyperboles and Reality
By: George Serafeim
ESG has rapidly become a household name leading to both confusion about what it means and creating unrealistic expectations about its effects. In this paper, I draw on more than a decade of research to dispel several myths about ESG and provide answers to important...
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- Article
Decarbonization Factors
By: Alex Cheema-Fox, Bridget LaPerla, George Serafeim, David Turkington and Hui (Stacie) Wang
In the face of accelerating climate change, investors are making capital allocations seeking to decarbonize portfolios by reducing the carbon emissions of their holdings. To understand the performance of portfolio decarbonization strategies and investor behavior...
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- 2021
- Working Paper
How to Fix ESG Reporting
By: Robert S. Kaplan and Karthik Ramanna
Investors, advocacy groups, academics, and the 200 CEOs of the US Business Roundtable have asked corporations to take on an added purpose beyond a narrow pursuit of shareholder value. In response, many companies now issue ESG (Environmental, Societal, and Governance)...
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Keywords:
ESG Reporting;
Sustainability;
Corporate Purpose;
Greenhouse Gas;
Activity-Based Costing;
Environmental Sustainability;
Environmental Management;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Measurement and Metrics;
Goals and Objectives;
Agreements and Arrangements;
Corporate Accountability
- 2021
- Article
Decarbonizing Everything
By: Alex Cheema-Fox, Bridget LaPerla, George Serafeim, David Turkington and Hui (Stacie) Wang
We analyze how the use of different climate risk measures leads to different portfolio carbon outcomes and risk-adjusted returns. Our findings are synthesized in a rules-based investment framework, which selects a different type of climate metric across industries and...
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Keywords:
Climate Risk;
ESG;
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance;
ESG Disclosure;
ESG Disclosure Metrics;
ESG Ratings;
Investing;
Investing For Impact;
Investment Strategy;
Environment;
Decarbonization;
Climate Change;
Environmental Sustainability;
Environmental Management;
Environmental Accounting;
Investment;
Strategy;
Investment Portfolio;
Investment Return
- July 2021
- Article
Material Sustainability Information and Stock Price Informativeness
By: Jody Grewal, Clarissa Hauptmann and George Serafeim
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...
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Keywords:
Voluntary Disclosure;
Accounting Standards;
Sustainability;
Nonfinancial Information;
Corporate Social Responsibility;
Stock Price Informativeness;
Synchronicity;
Environmental Sustainability;
Corporate Disclosure;
Corporate Accountability;
Stocks;
Price;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Accounting;
Standards
- 2021
- Working Paper
Accounting for Product Impact in the Oil and Gas Industry
By: Katie Panella, George Serafeim and Katie Trinh
We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the oil and gas industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary product impact estimates of...
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Keywords:
Product Innovation;
Impact;
Impact Investing;
Impact Measurement;
ESG;
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance;
ESG Ratings;
Social Corporate Responsibility;
Corporate Social Responsibility;
Social Impact;
Oil;
Oil ＆ Gas;
Oil And Gas;
IWAI;
Impact-Weighted Accounts;
Product Design;
Product Positioning;
Society;
Environmental Sustainability;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Product
- 2021
- Working Paper
Accounting for Product Impact in the Pharmaceuticals Industry
By: Amanda Rischbieth, George Serafeim and Katie Trinh
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...
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Keywords:
Product Innovation;
Impact;
Impact Investing;
Impact Measurement;
ESG;
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance;
ESG Ratings;
Social Corporate Responsibility;
Corporate Social Responsibility;
Social Impact;
Pharmaceutical Companies;
Pharmaceuticals;
IWAI;
Product Design;
Product Positioning;
Society;
Environmental Sustainability;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Product;
Safety;
Pharmaceutical Industry
- June 30, 2021
- Article
Rosabeth Moss Kanter: Let Employees Take the Lead on ESG
Companies that don’t give rank-and-file workers a central role in their environmental, social and governance (ESG) work are making a mistake. They risk alienating values-oriented employees who question company practices, and they miss a big opportunity for employee...
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- 2021
- Working Paper
Accounting for Product Impact in the Interactive Media and Services Industry
By: DG Park, George Serafeim and Katie Trinh
We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the interactive media and services industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact...
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Keywords:
Product Innovation;
Impact;
Impact Investing;
Impact Measurement;
ESG;
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance;
ESG Ratings;
Social Corporate Responsibility;
Corporate Social Responsibility;
Social Impact;
Product Design;
Product Positioning;
Society;
Product;
Environmental Sustainability;
Measurement and Metrics;
Framework;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Social Media;
Technology Industry
- 2021
- Working Paper
Studying the U.S.-Based Portfolio Companies of U.S. Impact Investors
By: M. Diane Burton, Gurveen Chadha, Shawn A. Cole, Abhishek Dev, Christina Jarymowycz, Leslie Jeng, Laura Kelley, Josh Lerner, Jaime R. Diaz Palacios, Yue (Cynthia) Xu and T. Robert Zochowski
Recent years have seen a dramatic increase in the reliance on market-based solutions to social and environmental problems around the world (Barman 2016; Horvath and Powell 2020). The growth of impact investing is a vivid example of this trend and, although there have...
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- 2021
- Working Paper
Accounting for Product Impact in the Telecommunications Industry
By: George Serafeim and Katie Trinh
We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the telecommunications industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates of network...
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Keywords:
Product Innovation;
Impact;
Impact Investing;
Impact Measurement;
ESG;
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance;
ESG Ratings;
Social Corporate Responsibility;
Corporate Social Responsibility;
Social Impact;
Telecommunications;
Product Design;
Product Positioning;
Society;
Product;
Environmental Sustainability;
Measurement and Metrics;
Framework;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Telecommunications Industry
- 2021
- Working Paper
Accounting for Product Impact in the Water Utilities Industry
By: George Serafeim and Katie Trinh
We apply the product impact measurement framework of the Impact-Weighted Accounts Initiative (IWAI) in two competitor companies within the water utilities industry. We design a monetization methodology that allows us to calculate monetary impact estimates of water...
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Keywords:
Product Innovation;
Impact;
Impact Investing;
Impact Measurement;
ESG;
ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance;
ESG Ratings;
Social Corporate Responsibility;
Corporate Social Responsibility;
Social Impact;
Water;
Utilities;
Product Design;
Product Positioning;
Society;
Product;
Environmental Sustainability;
Measurement and Metrics;
Framework;
Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;
Utilities Industry
- Article
Manage the Suppliers That Could Harm Your Brand: Know When to Avoid, Engage, or Drop Them
By: Jodi L Short and Michael W. Toffel
The pandemic has placed a new spotlight on working conditions in factories that supply global companies. To avert problems, firms often impose codes of conduct on their suppliers and perform audits to assess compliance. Do these measures help identify unethical...
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Keywords:
Auditing;
Agency Cost;
Quality And Safety;
Quality Management System;
Quality Management;
Unions;
Environmental Management;
Globalization;
Goods and Commodities;
Governance;
Labor;
Labor Unions;
Wages;
Working Conditions;
Operations;
Supply Chain;
Safety;
Quality;
China;
Bangladesh;
Asia;
Pakistan