Publications

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Spring 2014
Article

Attracting Long-Term Investors Through Integrated Thinking and Reporting: A Clinical Study of a Biopharmaceutical Company

By: Andrew Knauer and George Serafeim

Faced with a large percentage of investors that chase short-term returns, companies could benefit by attracting investors with longer-term horizons and incentives that are more consistent with the long-term strategy of the company. The managers of most companies take... View Details

Keywords: Investing; Asset Management; Long-term Investing; Short-termism; Sustainability; Integrated Reporting; Leadership & Corporate Accountability; Pharmaceuticals; Leadership; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Investment; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Corporate Finance; Biotechnology Industry; Pharmaceutical Industry

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30 Jan 2018
First Look

January 30, 2018

products offered to customers—has recently been used as a competitive advantage for both brick-and-mortar and online retailers. Fast-fashion retailers have differentiated themselves by rotating their... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

30 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 30, 2015

https://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=46138 Forthcoming Accounting Review An Analysis of Self-reported Anticorruption Efforts By: Healy, Paul M., and George Serafeim... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

Forthcoming
Article

Disclosure Standards and Communication Norms: Evidence of Voluntary Sustainability Standards as a Coordinating Device for Capital Markets

By: Khrystyna Bochkay, Jeffrey Hales and George Serafeim

In this paper, we examine how the development of voluntary sustainability standards has affected the nature of information covered in conference calls. Using industry-specific dictionaries of sustainability terms contained in the disclosure standards developed by the... View Details

Keywords: Voluntary Disclosure; Accounting Standards; Sustainability Reporting; Sustainability Standards; ESG; ESG Disclosure; Accounting; Corporate Disclosure; Environmental Sustainability; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Standards; United States

23 Aug 2011
First Look

First Look: August 23

relevant for industries characterized by product proliferation and horizontal differentiation. Read the paper: http://www.people.hbs.edu/banand/matchmaker2011published.pdf Accelerating the Adoption of... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

2018
Working Paper

Corporate Sustainability: A Strategy?

By: George Serafeim

We explore the conditions under which firms maintain their competitive advantage through sustainability-based differentiation when faced with imitation pressures by industry peers. We document growing intraindustry convergence on sustainability actions over time for... View Details

Keywords: Sustainability; Corporate Performance; Industry Analysis; CSR; ESG; ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Performance; Environment; Social Responsibility; Strategy And Execution; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Environmental Sustainability; Strategy; Performance; Corporate Strategy

23 Aug 2016
First Look

August 23, 2016

Kotsantonis, Sakis, Christopher Pinney, and George Serafeim Abstract—The authors’ aim in this article is to set the record straight on the financial performance of sustainable... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

11 Oct 2016
First Look

October 11, 2016

behavior; (3) a top-down or laissez-faire style by the leader, which prevents honest conversation about problems; (4) a lack of coordination across businesses, functions, or regions due to poor organizational design; (5) inadequate... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

23 Aug 2019
Sharpening Your Skills

Has the Corporate Mission Just Been Disrupted?

companies within most industries adopted an increasingly similar set of sustainability practices. This study by by Ioannis Ioannou View Details

Keywords: by Sean Silverthorne; Green Technology

02 Jan 2012
Research & Ideas

Most Popular Articles of 2011

that shows how CSR can make it easier for firms to secure financing for new projects. Research was conducted by George Serafeim and Beiting Cheng... View Details

Keywords: by Staff

28 Jul 2015
First Look

First Look: July 28, 2015

reviews through a sting conducted by Yelp. These data support our main results and shed further light on the economic incentives behind a business's decision to leave fake reviews. Publisher's link:... View Details

Keywords: Carmen Nobel

2021
Working Paper

Science-Based Carbon Emissions Targets

By: David Freiberg, Jody Grewal and George Serafeim

We examine the effect of voluntarily adopting a standard for setting science-based carbon emissions targets on target difficulty and investments to achieve those targets. We find that firms with a track record of setting and achieving ambitious carbon targets are more... View Details

Keywords: Target; Targeting; Target-setting; Target Efficiency; Management Control Systems; Management Accounting; Environment; Environmental And Social Sustainability; Climate Change; Environmental Management; Environmental Accounting; Environmental Sustainability; Management Analysis, Tools, and Techniques

16 Jun 2015
First Look

First Look: June 16, 2015

Publications June 2015 Review of Accounting Studies Speaking of the Short-Term: Disclosure Horizon and Managerial Myopia By: Brochet, Francois, Maria Loumioti, and George... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

17 Dec 2020
Research & Ideas

The 10 Most Popular Stories of 2020

organizational sustainability and characterizes the situations in which a social enterprise should be sustainable. The analysis then delineates when an investment in a social enterprise delivers superior impact to a grant. Corporate... View Details

Keywords: by Dina Gerdeman

2019
Chapter

The Consequences of Mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting

By: Ioannis Ioannou and George Serafeim

A key aspect of the governance process inside organizations and markets is the measurement and disclosure of important metrics and information. In this chapter, we examine the effect of sustainability disclosure regulations on firms’ disclosure practices and... View Details

28 Feb 2012
First Look

First Look: Feb. 28

http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-071.pdf Short-Termism, Investor Clientele, and Firm Risk Authors:Francois Brochet, Maria Loumioti, and George View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Sep 2014
First Look

First Look: September 2

consumer behavior. Publisher's link: http://ezp-prod1.hul.harvard.edu/login?url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11002-014-9306-1?nosfx=y Working Papers The Consequences of Mandatory Corporate Sustainability Reporting: Evidence from Four Countries By: Ioannou, Ioannis,... View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

October 2022 (Revised July 2025)
Case

Driving Decarbonization at BMW

By: Shirley Lu, George Serafeim and Michael W. Toffel

The case describes BMW’s electrification and decarbonization strategy, and how the company measured carbon emissions throughout the life cycle of its vehicles and used tools like carbon abatement cost curves to evaluate decarbonization opportunities. In mid-2022,... View Details

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February 2024
Supplement

Seeds of Innovation: GALY’s Quest to Cultivate the Future of Agriculture in the Lab

By: George Serafeim

In 2023, Luciano Bueno, CEO and founder of plant cell culture agriculture company GALY, was considering the best path forward for his company as he planned to pitch Series B investors. GALY, founded in 2019, aimed to produce cotton and other crops from cells grown in... View Details

Keywords: Business Model; Green Technology; Goods and Commodities; Growth and Development Strategy; Science-Based Business; Entrepreneurship; Plant-Based Agribusiness; Business Startups; Decisions; Technological Innovation; Production; Entrepreneurial Finance; Agriculture and Agribusiness Industry; Technology Industry; Boston; Sao Paulo