Publications

June 2008 (Revised February 2013)
Case

Vignettes on Governance of Private Equity Firms

By: G. Felda Hardymon, Ann Leamon and Eugenia Adofo

In a series of vignettes, Nigella Hardy-Smyth of an international development agency that invests in emerging markets private equity firms must decide how to handle various situations that arise. As a member of the Limited Partner Advisory Board of each of the five... View Details

Keywords: Private Equity; Investment Funds; Corporate Governance; Governing and Advisory Boards; Managerial Roles; Emerging Markets; Partners and Partnerships

January 2022
Article

Why is Corporate Virtue in the Eye of The Beholder? The Case of ESG Ratings

By: Dane Christensen, George Serafeim and Anywhere Sikochi

Despite the rising use of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings, there is substantial disagreement across rating agencies regarding what rating to give to individual firms. As what drives this disagreement is unclear, we examine whether a firm’s ESG... View Details

Keywords: ESG Ratings; Rating Agency Disagreement; ESG Disclosure; Corporate Social Responsibility; Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Disclosure

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16 Apr 2001
Research & Ideas

Making the Most of Government Upheaval

largest cement company in Spain, it was evident that a once nationally focused enterprise was ready to go head-to-head with leading corporations in Europe and the rest of the developed world. Because they developed their initial analysis... View Details

Keywords: by Nancy O. Perry

October 2006 (Revised July 2007)
Case

China Resources Corporation (A): 6S Management

By: Dennis Campbell and David Lane

In 2006, Jiang Wei, CFO of China Resources Corporation, was seeking to implement a variety of new management control systems in a complex diversified corporation during a period of rapid economic expansion in mainland China. Instilling efficiency, productivity,... View Details

Keywords: Accounting; Business Conglomerates; Governance Controls; Balanced Scorecard; Management Systems; Performance Improvement; Business Strategy; China

Article

A Critical Examination of Corporate Environmental and Social Impact Measurement and Valuation

By: Judith Stroehle, Ali Aslan Gümüşay, Laura Marie Edinger-Schons, Amyn Vogel, Alnoor Ebrahim, Andreas Rasche, Andrew King, Ken Pucker, Richard Barker, Juliane Reinecke, Giovanna Michelon, Stuart Cooper, Dror Etzion, Karim Harji, Marya Besharov, Colin Mayer, Nien-hê Hsieh and Emma van den Terrell

The assignment of monetary values to a company's impact on society and the natural environment promises much. At the same time, this endeavor would benefit from addressing three prior ethical considerations: 1) determining responsibility to clarify attribution of... View Details

Keywords: ESG; Social Impact; Impact Accounting; Corporate Responsibility; Impact Measurement; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Ethics; Valuation; Corporate Accountability

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20 Jan 2003
Research & Ideas

Fixing Corporate Governance: A Roundtable Discussion at Harvard Business School

opportunities to test out their own values against what's expected of them as responsible professionals. We don't teach them about the dysfunctional aspects that we've been discussing here, and we should. As someone who's interested in View Details

Keywords: by Garry Emmons

February 2021 (Revised September 2022)
Case

Shareholder Activists and Corporate Strategy

By: David J. Collis and Caeden Brynie

This library case examines the rise of shareholder activism in recent years, particularly in the public eye, and analyzes its effects on corporate strategy, growth, and shareholder value. It looks at three contemporary targets of shareholder activism in particular—Bed... View Details

Keywords: Shareholder; Shareholder Activism; Board; Board Of Directors; Hedge Fund; Hedge Fund Activism; Strategy; Corporate Strategy; Investment Activism; Governing and Advisory Boards; Business and Shareholder Relations

2020
Article

Research on Corporate Sustainability: Review and Directions for Future Research

By: Jody Grewal and George Serafeim

We review the literature on corporate sustainability and provide directions for future research. Our review focuses on three actions: measuring, managing and communicating corporate sustainability performance. Measurement is the least developed of the three and... View Details

2020
Article

Public Sentiment and the Price of Corporate Sustainability

By: George Serafeim

Combining corporate sustainability performance scores based on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) data with big data measuring public sentiment about a company’s sustainability performance, I find that the valuation premium paid for companies with strong... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Investment Management; Investment Strategy; Big Data; Machine Learning; Environment; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Governance; Performance; Asset Pricing; Investment; Management; Strategy; Human Capital; Public Opinion; Value; Analytics and Data Science

SSRN

March 2004 (Revised May 2006)
Background Note

Corporate Reform in the United States

By: Lynn S. Paine and Kim Bettcher

The spate of corporate misdeeds revealed to the American public in 2001 to 2002 prompted corrective action in many quarters of the U.S. economy. The note summarizes some of the steps taken by lawmakers, regulators, law-enforcement officials, companies, investors,... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Capital Markets; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Trust; United States

02 Jul 2018
Research & Ideas

Corporate Tax Cuts Don't Increase Middle Class Incomes

Halfpoint In the worlds of economic theory and conservative political orthodoxy, corporate tax cuts, such as the 2017 tax reform in the United States, should create benefits beyond businesses. As the thinking goes, middle class workers... View Details

Keywords: by Roberta Holland

Research Summary

Overview

Research about the design and use of internal performance measurement and control systems to implement strategies, align incentives, manage risks, and shape culture using accounting measurement and priorities. In addition, my research includes understanding how and... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Governance; Strategic Change; Accounting Red Flags; Accountability

24 May 2010
Research & Ideas

Stimulus Surprise: Companies Retrench When Government Spends

average firm in his state cut back capital expenditures by roughly 15 percent, according to their working paper, "Do Powerful Politicians Cause Corporate Downsizing?" "It was an enormous surprise, at least to us, to learn... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne

29 Oct 2018
Working Paper Summaries

Public Sentiment and the Price of Corporate Sustainability

Keywords: by George Serafeim

Research Summary

Understanding the Drivers and Limits of Corporate Growth

By: Gary P. Pisano

Perhaps no issues garners more attention of senior executives and Boards of Directors than growth. Yet, the underlying factors shaping and limiting corporate growth are poorly understood. Empirically, we know that some corporations grow much faster than... View Details

Summer 2018
Article

CSR needs CPR: Corporate Sustainability and Politics

By: Thomas Lyon, Magali A. Delmas, John W. Maxwell, Pratima Bansal, Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, Patricia Crifo, Rodolphe Durand, Jean-Pascal Gond, Andrew King, Michael Lenox, Michael W. Toffel, David Vogel and Frank Wijen

Corporate sustainability has gone mainstream, and many companies have taken meaningful steps to improve their own environmental performance. But while corporate political actions such as lobbying can have a greater impact on environmental quality, they are ignored in... View Details

Keywords: Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Communication; Policy; Business and Government Relations

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23 Aug 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Has the Corporate Mission Just Been Disrupted?

Business as usual is no longer acceptable, was the message of 200 corporate leaders on August 19, when the Business Roundtable issued a "Statement on the Purpose of a Corporation." No longer should the primary purpose of... View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Green Technology

June 2010
Article

A Gap-Filling Theory of Corporate Debt Maturity Choice

By: Robin Greenwood, Samuel G. Hanson and Jeremy C. Stein

We argue that time-series variation in the maturity of aggregate corporate debt issues arises because firms behave as macro liquidity providers, absorbing the large supply shocks associated with changes in the maturity structure of government debt. We document that... View Details

Keywords: Business Ventures; Decision Choices and Conditions; Borrowing and Debt; Financial Liquidity; Investment Return; Government and Politics