Do firms engage in political competition in environmental lobbying when they have opposing environmental stances? If yes, is there any deadweight loss of corporate value and social resources due to such political competition? Our recent working paper theoretically and empirically explores how firms can compete to capture an environmental policy through lobbying. Corporate lobbying is… Read More »
Since 2007, a novel debt type, green bonds, has emerged as a popular instrument to raise and direct capital toward projects that curb climate change risk. Corporations, government agencies, supranational entities, and municipalities issue these bonds mainly in the US, China, and Europe. Annual green bond issuance has experienced exponential growth from $37.1 in 2014… Read More »
Over the last decade, there has been a significant increase in the popularity of socially responsible investment (SRI) funds. These funds claim to incorporate environmental and social (E&S) risks into the selection of their portfolio firms and the majority of these funds also claim that they engage with their portfolio firms to improve the real-world… Read More »
This essay summarizes new research findings regarding cryptocurrency-exposed companies (companies that hold cryptocurrencies) and why they should be excluded from Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investment funds. ESG is an amorphous term with no universally agreed-upon definition. The environmental factor includes considerations like a company’s pollution, water usage, and effects on biodiversity. Social factors include… Read More »
Being green is not easy, but is it costly? Our recent paper attempts to answer this question for the U.S. federal government. The federal government is the largest consumer in the world, spending more than $650 billion buying products and services from firms in the private sector each year. Government contracts are considered green if… Read More »
In a new paper, I examine changes in CEO labor market outcomes following corporate environmental misconduct, which creates negative externalities that firms are required by law to prevent. Corporate activities create significant negative environmental externalities. These economic costs can exceed $4.7 trillion a year, are multi-sectoral, and appear through the entire lifecycle of products. Externalities… Read More »
One negative consequences of industrialization has been the generation and release of toxic chemicals, which have detrimental effects on the environment, climate, and public health. As the world grapples with environmental and climate change challenges, these byproducts are becoming an important issue drawing the attention of investors, scholars, and governments. For instance, toxic emissions are… Read More »
Do UK employers misreport information about gender pay equity? While many countries have attempted to close gender pay gaps with legislation, such as the 1963 Equal Pay Act in the US and the 1970 Equality Act in the UK, a common criticism of these laws is that enforcement is difficult because firms need not publicly… Read More »
Since William Nordhaus published his seminal work in 1994, economists have coalesced around the need to implement carbon taxes to address the negative externalities of greenhouse gas emissions on temperatures. Under this paradigm, properly designed carbon taxes induce firms to internalize the cost to society of their emissions, thereby restoring the socially optimal allocation. In… 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 »