Environmental Regulation - Publications - Faculty & Research

March 2025
Case

Hurtigruten: Sea Zero

By: Christian Kaps and Michael W. Toffel

Hurtigruten was deciding whether the next ship they built should be fully electric. But such a vessel's battery, the size of electric cars, needed to be charged on the ship's multi-day voyage along the Norwegian coast. Before making such a $250 million investment, the... View Details

Keywords: Energy Sources; Alternative Energy; Ship Transportation; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Innovation and Management; Green Technology; Investment; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Shipping Industry; Tourism Industry; Transportation Industry; Travel Industry; Battery Industry; Norway; Europe

Citation

Educators

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05 May 2015
First Look

First Look: May 5

Regulation? By: Drake, David F., and Robin L. Just Abstract—A regulator's ability to incentivize environmental improvement among firms is vital in achieving long-term sustainability. However, firms can and do respond to View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

19 Oct 2015
Research & Ideas

Business Research that Makes for Smarter Public Policy

originated. “We are using data from regulators, writing studies, but seldom going back to the regulators to say, ‘This is what we learned,’” says Harvard Business School Professor Michael W. Toffel, whose research examines companies’... View Details

Keywords: by Michael Blanding

23 Feb 2021
Research & Ideas

COVID-19 Shines New Light on Working Conditions in Supply Chains

invent their own standards?” he says. “It's because federal and state safety regulators haven’t set up clear rules and guidance.” We recently talked to Toffel, the Senator John Heinz Professor of View Details

Keywords: by Danielle Kost; Apparel & Accessories

06 Nov 2019
Op-Ed

Torched Planet: The Business Case to Reinvent Almost Everything

The world is. on. fire. The Earth is burning. We only have a little time to arrest climate change, and if we fail to do so the consequences will be both dire and irreversible. We have the technology and the resources to fix things, if we want to. We even have a... View Details

Keywords: by Rebecca Henderson; Energy

08 Apr 2011
Research & Ideas

Will the Japan Disaster Remake the Landscape for Green Energy in Asia?

comprehensive set of policies and regulations in place and the climate for investment is favorable." The flip side of that coin is that in some countries the government exerts such a large influence on the energy sector that it can... View Details

Keywords: by Dennis Fisher; Energy; Utilities

24 Sep 2014
Op-Ed

We Need a Miracle. New Nuclear Might Provide it.

On September 4, the US Energy Information Agency (EIA) published its 2014 International Energy Outlook. Earlier this year, the International Energy Agency (IEA) released its latest World Energy Investment Outlook. Both watchdogs tell us the same story. Energy... View Details

Keywords: by Joseph Lassiter; Energy; Utilities

08 Mar 2012
Research & Ideas

Unplugged: What Happened to the Smart Grid?

China, have made major headway with developing their smart grids, but progress in the United States has been slow. "It's rolling out much more slowly than people expected. Consumers seem less interested in its capabilities. The View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman; Energy; Utilities

June 2024
Case

Vinalhaven: The Downtown Project

By: Richard S. Ruback, Matthew Preble, Ruth Page and Dave Habeeb

Vinalhaven is an island community located approximately 12 miles off the coast of Maine. The island has a year-round population of about 1,300 people as of 2022, with an additional 3,000 people who reside on the island in the summer months. The two largest industries... View Details

Keywords: Climate Change; Environmental Regulation; Environmental Sustainability; Natural Resources; Natural Environment; Weather; Sustainable Cities; Forecasting and Prediction; Construction; Property; Infrastructure; Capital Budgeting; Projects; Project Finance; Negotiation; United States; Maine

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10 Oct 2007
First Look

First Look: First Look: October 10

corporate confessions presents something of a behavioral paradox. Tasked with monitoring the legality of its own operations, why would firms that identify violations turn themselves in to regulators rather than quietly fix the problem?... View Details

Keywords: Martha Lagace

30 Jun 2009
Research Event

Business Summit: The Role of Business Leaders in Sustaining Market Capitalism

environmental issues, inadequate governance, and lack of transparency. But these same leaders have very different perspectives on the most appropriate path forward. Some feel the sole focus of business should be on building great... View Details

Keywords: Re: Multiple Faculty

08 Nov 2016
First Look

November 8, 2016

stringent measures to regulate the industry. Download working paper: https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=51895 Alternative Paths of Green Entrepreneurship: The Environmental Legacies of The North... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Jun 2007
Lessons from the Classroom

Teaching the Next Generation of Energy Executives

You may think that being an energy executive—especially a manager in a leading oil company—might be the easiest job around. Just flip the production switch, and watch gas prices head toward $4 a gallon. But students enrolled in Harvard Business School professor Forest... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna; Energy; Utilities

16 Dec 2011
Research & Ideas

Reintroducing Intellectual Ambition to the Study of Business History

and attempt to develop frameworks for assessing the nature of this impact. It is equally important to identify the entrepreneurs and firms that have been ahead of governments and regulators in championing more sustainable practices and... View Details

Keywords: by Geoffrey Jones & Walter Friedman

19 Feb 2013
First Look

First Look: Feb. 19

PublicationsLabor Regulations and European Venture Capital Authors:Bozkaya, Ant, and William R. Kerr Publication:Journal of Economics & Management Strategy Abstract European nations substitute between employment protection View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

28 Apr 2010
Research & Ideas

Earth Day Reflections

work they are already doing. For, example I am helping a major U.S. utility look at the implications of possible carbon regulation and the way they structure their business. I'm working with a large consumer goods company to look at the... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

07 Jun 2004
Research & Ideas

The Competition of Countries

Countries, like companies, need development strategies to succeed in a world of growing globalization. Professor Richard H. K. Vietor is an expert on business regulation and the international political economy. Vietor has taught at... View Details

Keywords: by Cynthia Churchwell

07 Apr 2003
Research & Ideas

Three Steps for Crisis Prevention

between a true surprise and one that should have been predicted? Anticipating and avoiding business disasters isn't just a matter of doing better environmental scanning or contingency planning. It requires a number of steps, from... View Details

Keywords: by Michael D. Watkins & Max H. Bazerman

23 Dec 2002
Research & Ideas

Partnering and the Balanced Scorecard

created a fifth perspective solely to reflect environmental considerations. They argued: Our franchise is under severe pressure in many of the communities where we operate. Our strategy is to go well beyond what current laws and View Details

Keywords: by Robert S. Kaplan & David P. Norton

23 Mar 2010
First Look

First Look: March 23

efforts that might warrant a reduction in regulatory scrutiny. We find voluntary disclosure to be associated with improvements in regulatory compliance and environmental performance, indicating that self-reporting is associated with... View Details