3rd Annual Convening of the ESG Initiative
January 17, 2024
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
Our third annual invitation-only event includes a highly interactive design structured to maximize both learning and engagement among attendees. Attendees for the event included industry thought leaders, Wharton faculty and staff, and distinguished students. The program featured presentations by academics and practitioners feeding into Q&A sessions on pressing topics including Next Generation Measurement, Incentive Gaps, Impact Strategy, and Inseparability of ESG.
Schedule
Friday, January 17
9:15 AM
Next Generation Measurement
Chair: Witold Henisz (Wharton)
ESG and Intangibles
John Mennel (Deloitte), Witold Henisz (Wharton)
A Behavioural View of ESG
Maurizio Zollo (Imperial College London)
[See published papers in Nature Communications and PNAS as well as white paper]
ESG Materiality and Firm Value
Yakov Bart (Northeastern University)
[See working paper and explore dataset]
Supply Chain Risks
Sandra Schafhäutle (Wharton)
[See working paper]
Satellite Data on Marine Ecosystems
Leandro Pongeluppe (Wharton)
[Working paper available upon request. Read about the full scope of his research and access published papers here]
Cumulative Abnormal Market Sentiment
Emily Ulrich (Wharton)
[Working paper available later this year upon request]
ESG Data Convergence Initiative
Abrielle Rosenthal (TowerBrook)
[Read more about the Initiative here]
Impact Convergence Forum
Madeleine Evans (Generation Investment Management)
[Follow the Linkedin Group and read the press release]
10:00 AM
Table Discussion
10:30 AM
Break
10:50 AM
Incentive Gaps
Chair: Exequiel (Zeke) Hernandez (Wharton)
Insurance Markets
Ben Keys (Wharton)
[Read the working paper or the New York Times article or his Guest Essay. Explore the data at Fast Company or New York Times]
Corporate Ownership and Employee Compensation
Claudine Gartenberg (Wharton)
[See Working Paper as well as other related work on Corporate Purpose and Firm Strategy, Profits, Acquisitions, Public vs. Private ownership, Sustainability and the Theory of the Firm.]
Corporate Work Practices and Safety
R. Jisung Park (Wharton)
[See Working paper and his related work and book as well as the work of his coauthor]
Limits of Climate Activism
Kenneth Chung (Wharton)
[Working paper available upon request. See a review of the literature on climate activism that motivated this research and a previously published paper by his coauthor on activist coalitions]
Academic Institutional Structures
Michael Mann (UPenn)
[See the full scope of Michael’s work here and more about his new position here]
The Social Production of Targets by the ESG Countermovement
Tony He (Rutgers)
[Working paper available upon request]
Immigration Policy
Exequiel (Zeke) Hernandez (Wharton)
11:30 AM
Table Discussion
12:00 PM
Lunch
1:00 PM
Strategies for Impact
Chair: Michael Brown (Wharton)
Transition Tailwinds
Thomas Kamei (Morgan Stanley)
[Read more about the Tailwinds Fund as well as CultureQuant]
Real Impact via Public Equity Investing
Timothy P. Dunn (Terra Alpha Investments)
[Read more about Terra Alpha here]
Dynamic Capability of Issues Management
Tony He (Rutgers)
[Working paper available upon request]
Political Resilience
Anastasia Gracheva (Wharton)
[Working paper available later this year upon request]
Impact Strategy at Generation Investment Management
Madeleine Evans (Generation Impact Management)
[Read more about Impact at Generation here]
Best Practices from Impact Investing Research Laboratory
Michael Brown (Wharton)
[Read published papers here and read our newly released primer]
Learning By Doing: Wharton Impact Venture Associates and Penn Medicine — Wharton Fund for Health
Rajith Sebastian (Wharton), Adaeze Enekwechi (Cayaba Care), Thomas Zhang (University of Pennsylvania)
1:45 PM
Table Discussion
2:10 PM
Break
2:30 PM
Inseparability of ESG
Chair: Sarah Light (Wharton)
Climate Justice and the Efficacy of Carbon Abatement
Susanna Berkouwer (Wharton)
[See published paper in American Economic Review and coverage in Carbon Herald, The Daily Pennsylvanian, Kleinman Center Policy Digest, Knowledge@Wharton, Our World In Data, Giving Green, Chicago Booth Review, VoxDev, World Bank Development Impact, Energy Institute at Haas Blog, IGC Policy Brief as well as Wharton’s Podcast: The Ripple Effect]
Energy Justice
Sanya Carley (UPenn)
[See published papers in Nature Energy (2020), Nature Energy (2021), Energy Research & Social Science, IEEE]
Political Risks and Opportunities in Pricing Carbon
Arthur van Benthem (Wharton)
[See the full scope of his research here]
Corporate Governance and the Alignment of Firms’ Non-market Actions
Matt Josefy (Wharton)
[Working paper available here]
Geostrategy by Design: Political Risk Management and Governance
Ben-Ari Boukai (EY)
[Learn more about EY’s Geostrategic Business Group as well as the Political Risk and Identity Lab at Wharton and buy the book]
Corporate Governance and the Alignment of Firms’ Non-market Actions
Bruce Freed (Center for Political Accountability), Larry Zicklin (NYU Stern)
[Access the CPA Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability and the CPA-Zicklin Model Code of Conduct for Corporate Political Spending. See the full scope of activity at the Zicklin Center for Governance and Business Ethics]
Investing for Impact in Addressing Homelessness
Jillian Cener (Wharton), Kaitlin Cruz (Wharton)
[Learn more about Wharton ESG Integration Projects (WEIP) and WEIP client Turner Impact Capital including their focus on housing]
Incorporating Nature
Sarah Light (Wharton)
3:20 PM
Table Discussion
3:45 PM
Break
4:05 PM
Systems Perspectives – A Panel Discussion
Moderated by: Tim Mohin (Boston Consulting Group)
Panelists:
Max Bazerman (Harvard)
Viviana Alvarez (cDots)
Bruno Roche (ONEsociety)
David Young (Boston Consulting Group)
4:45 PM
Table Discussion
5:15 PM
Reception and Hors d’Oeuvres
Harker Hall, 8th Floor, Jon M. Huntsman Hall
Hors d’oeuvres and Beverages provided.
About the ESG Initiative at Wharton
The Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Initiative at the Wharton School conducts academically rigorous and practically relevant research that investigates gaps between the current pricing of ESG factors by investors and corporations and their long-term business and societal impacts. Informed by this research, we offer 30+ courses that MBA and undergraduate students can assemble into the ESG for Business major or concentration, over a dozen co-curricular experiences, four Executive certificate programs, and an expanding array of industry and policy convenings. We advance Wharton’s best-in-class education of current and future leaders, equipping them with the tools, skills, and perspectives needed to navigate a world in which ESG risks and opportunities are increasingly material.