August 27, 2020 Howard Kunreuther and Erin St. Peter Recent wildfires still raging in California have been caused by what some experts deem an unprecedented volume and pattern of almost 300 lightning strikes in contrast to nearly 90% of U.S. wildfires that are caused by equipment sources (e.g., utility wires)…Read More
ESG Initiative News
Quantifying 50 Years of Misogyny in Music
August 26, 2020 Reihane Boghrati Dr. Boghrati has been a post-doctoral researcher at the Wharton Risk Center for the past two years. Her research focuses on extracting psychological phenomena from text. To do this she uses advance machine learning and natural language processing techniques to study behavioral constructs. In a…Read More
Why We Need Community-Based Catastrophe Insurance
August 17, 2020 Carolyn Kousky and Andy Read This article originally appeared on BRINK on July 30, 2020. The impacts of COVID-19 on individuals, communities and insurers are continuing to unfold and no doubt present uncertainty. However, the current disruption also serves to highlight the importance of lessening reliance on…Read More
How To Combat the Corona-Recession and Climate Change
August 13, 2020 This piece was first published in Svenska Dagbladet on July 25, 2020 and on August 7, 2020 on the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy's blog. It is reprinted with permission. Arthur van Benthem, Gustav Engström, Johan Gars, Niko Jaakkola, Therese Lindahl, and Daniel Spiro. During this spring the governments of many countries…Read More
Uniting Disaster Risk Transfer with Sustainable Development: A Q&A with the World Bank Treasury
August 4th, 2020 Natural disasters and health related emergencies can cause significant economic and fiscal shocks for countries. Immediately after a catastrophic event, many countries receive short-term humanitarian assistance; and often they will also receive international financial aid for longer-term rebuilding. But countries can struggle to fund the interim period,…Read More
Project Sage 3.0: New Gender Lens Investing Report
The ESG Initiative at the Wharton School News Project Sage 3.0: New Gender Lens Investing Report What’s the latest in the world of gender lens investing? This month, Wharton Social Impact Initiative and Catalyst at Large published Project Sage 3.0. This new impact investing report tracks venture capital, private equity,…Read More
Subsidizing Electricity During a Pandemic: Lessons from Ghana
July 27, 2020 This post originally appeared on the Haas Energy Institute's blog. Susanna Berkouwer, Pierre Biscaye, Miranda Lambert, Steve Puller, and Catherine Wolfram. Ghanaians were promised heavily subsidized electricity for the first three months of the pandemic. What happened? A number of countries have offered free or reduced-price electricity as a stimulus…Read More
Black Lives Matter—A Message to the Wharton Social Impact Community
The ESG Initiative at the Wharton School News Black Lives Matter—A Message to the Wharton Social Impact Community Dear Members of the Wharton Social Impact Community, In recent weeks, I have been shaken by the brutal killings of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor; the profound inequity and racism…Read More
The Fiscal Impacts of Wildfires on California Municipalities
June 10, 2020 Penny Liao and Carolyn Kousky Recent years have seen record-breaking wildfires across the globe. In 2017 and 2018, California experienced devastating wildfire seasons that each caused roughly $12 billion in insured losses. The state may see such years more frequently as the planet warms. In the western…Read More
How to Change Anyone’s Mind
May 7, 2020 Jonah Berger Everyone has something they want to change. Employees want to change their bosses’ minds, and leaders want to transform organizations. Salespeople want to win new clients, and startups want to revolutionize industries. Parents want to change their children’s behavior, and political canvassers want to sway…Read More