Accounting & Management
-
- November 2022 (Revised December 2022)
- Case
The Dutch East India Company (VOC)
By: Sophus A. Reinert, Paul M. Healy and Robert Fredona- November 2022 (Revised December 2022)
- Case
The Dutch East India Company (VOC)
By: Sophus A. Reinert, Paul M. Healy and Robert Fredona -
- 2022
- Working Paper
The Issuance and Design of Sustainability-linked Loans
By: Maria Loumioti and George SerafeimSustainability-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 with low ESG risk profiles. We show that borrower’s ESG risk is associated with the use of aggregate (e.g., ESG score) rather than granular (e.g., carbon emissions) performance indicators and the monitoring by a reputable sustainability verifier. Further, ESG risk is unrelated to sustainability indicator materiality and target restrictiveness. Overall, we provide evidence consistent with the sustainability-linked lending market acting as a signaling mechanism of ESG credentials and being at the early stages of contract design sophistication.
- 2022
- Working Paper
The Issuance and Design of Sustainability-linked Loans
By: Maria Loumioti and George SerafeimSustainability-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 with low ESG risk profiles. We show that borrower’s ESG risk is associated with...
-
- 2022
- Working Paper
The Evolution of ESG Reports and the Role of Voluntary Standards
By: Ethan Rouen, Kunal Sachdeva and Aaron YoonWe examine the evolution of ESG reports of S&P 500 firms from 2010 to 2021. The percentage of firms releasing these voluntary disclosures increased from 35% to 86% during this period, although the length of these documents experienced more modest growth. Using a semisupervised machine-learning approach and guided by voluntary standards that identified material ESG issues, we explore whether the content in these reports has become more relevant to investors. On average, firms devote most of their reports to topics that are material to their sector. The relative amount of material information increased by 11% after the release of voluntary standards. This increase was driven by firms that were not involved in the standard-setting process. Firms that helped develop the standards increased material disclosures at similar rates while the standards were being developed. These results provide new insights into how ESG reports evolved.
- 2022
- Working Paper
The Evolution of ESG Reports and the Role of Voluntary Standards
By: Ethan Rouen, Kunal Sachdeva and Aaron YoonWe examine the evolution of ESG reports of S&P 500 firms from 2010 to 2021. The percentage of firms releasing these voluntary disclosures increased from 35% to 86% during this period, although the length of these documents experienced more modest growth. Using a semisupervised machine-learning approach and guided by voluntary standards that...
About the Unit
The Accounting & Management unit at Harvard Business School strives to be the worldwide leader in research, course development, and teaching on top managements' use of performance measurement systems to:
- Communicate with external investors to ensure that their firms' securities are fairly priced and that they are able to access capital,
- Measure and evaluate their firms' economic performance,
- Improve resource allocation and strategy implementation within their firms, and
- Build accountability for performance through effective external and internal governance.
Unit research, course development, and teaching fall into two broad areas: Financial Reporting and Analysis and Management Accounting. Our research helps scholars and educators understand current best practices for the design and use of performance measurement systems that help managers to build more effective, value-creating organizations. Our teaching materials enable us to bring the results of this research into the classroom, and to practice.
Recent Publications
Driving Decarbonization at BMW - Spreadsheet Supplement
- December 2022 |
- Supplement |
- Faculty Research
Driving Decarbonization at BMW - Video Supplement
- December 2022 |
- Supplement |
- Faculty Research
P.T. Barnum: Changing the World
- November 2022 |
- Teaching Note |
- Faculty Research
The Dutch East India Company (VOC)
- November 2022 (Revised December 2022) |
- Case |
- Faculty Research
The Issuance and Design of Sustainability-linked Loans
- 2022 |
- Working Paper |
- Faculty Research
Climate Change Vulnerability and Currency Returns
- 2022 |
- Article |
- Financial Analysts Journal
The Evolution of ESG Reports and the Role of Voluntary Standards
- 2022 |
- Working Paper |
- Faculty Research
Marie Curie: Changing the World
- October 2022 (Revised October 2022) |
- Teaching Note |
- Faculty Research