The notions behind decentralized virtual currency were developed over a long period of time and decades before the introduction of Bitcoin, the first cryptographic virtual currency, in 2008. To a certain extent, they express the idea of “denationalization of money,” which represents a significant part of the work of the Nobel laureate Friedrich Hayek from… Read More »
Climate change is undeniably a significant and looming threat, impacting both the global environment and the stability of our economies and financial sector. There is an immediate and pressing need to comprehensively assess and effectively manage this multifaceted risk. Recently, we’ve seen a proactive response from regulatory bodies and standard-setting organizations worldwide, as they’ve taken… Read More »
Climate change is undeniably one of the most pressing challenges of our era. The scientific consensus regarding the urgency of addressing climate change has spurred international efforts to combat its effects. Central to this endeavor is the Paris Agreement, a historic international climate accord signed by 196 countries in 2015. This agreement aims to mitigate… Read More »
Climate change poses one of the most pressing risks to our society and the global economy, with profound and wide-ranging consequences. Research has shown that rising temperatures and tropical cyclones reduce the global economic growth rate by approximately 0.25 and 1.3 percentage points per year (Burke, Hsiang, and Miguel, 2015; Carleton and Hsiang, 2016). Despite… Read More »
Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing has been gaining momentum in recent years as investors increasingly recognize the importance of incorporating ESG factors into their investment decisions. ESG investors rely on third party rating agencies that specialize in measuring the ESG performance of companies. There are many ESG rating agencies in the market and some… Read More »
Regulatory oversight is important for safeguarding investors’ interests and ensuring the efficient functioning of financial markets. However, oversight can sometimes fail due to extraordinary factors such as resource constraints and political connections. Our recent study shows that oversight failure can also occur because of reduced productivity of regulators due to severe fine particulate matter air… Read More »
“Meat shaming,” “flight shaming,” and other carbon-footprint shaming behaviors are familiar phenomena in today’s climate-conscious society. In this context, people harness their ability to cause shame and embarrassment to others to prompt private individuals to adopt climate-friendly practices. A different type of climate shaming involves the shaming of firms by government regulators to achieve climate-related… Read More »
Institutional investors are increasingly worried about their portfolios’ exposure to environmental risks. For example, heat waves cause a decrease in worker productivity, resulting in lower revenues and operating income, and the regulation of externalities, such as carbon pricing, affects the value of polluting firms. A global survey indicates institutional investors believe environmental risks have financial… Read More »
Attention to and interest in environmental and social (ES) issues increased exponentially in the past decade by concerned citizens worldwide, governments, regulators, individual investors, and intermediaries such as mutual funds. The number of ES funds more than doubled over the past few years, and the amount invested through them grew even more. These ES funds typically favor investments… Read More »
Recognizing that “investor demand for, and company disclosure of information about, climate change risks, impacts, and opportunities has grown dramatically,” former Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC or Commission) Acting Chair Allison Herren Lee released 15 questions for consideration on March 15, 2021 “with an eye toward facilitating the disclosure of consistent, comparable, and reliable information… Read More »
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