Zicklin Center Archives

Zicklin Bright Index

Stock image of the andes mountains in Peru with snow at their caps and green land at the bottom near a bright blue lake

The Zicklin Bright Index (ZBI) is a ranking established in 2023 that seeks to classify companies demonstrating notable human rights awareness into tiers. Researchers evaluate corporations in a specific region based on their publicly available information, self-disclosure, and gross revenue. Importantly, the ZBI does not measure direct human rights performance but rather emphasizes transparency and disclosure practices as fundamental social goods.…Read More

Political spending increasingly seen as ESG metric as transparency rating reaches new milestone

The capitol building from below with the sky in the background and an American flag.

(Outlet: IR Magazine) A record number of companies have achieved ‘trendsetter’ status for their transparency around political spending in the 2023 CPA-Zicklin Index of Corporate Political Disclosure and Accountability. …Read More

In our ‘hyper-polarized’ political climate, 20% of the S&P 500 is now doing this

A group of police officers and protesters stand in a road; some protestors hold American flags and one holds a red sign that reads "LOCK HIM UP."

(Outlet: MarketWatch) Watchdog and Wharton center release their latest study that tracks companies’ disclosures of political spending. According to the latest study co-authored by that organization, the Center for Political Accountability in Washington, D.C., and the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, a growing number of S&P 500 companies have made the effort to earn the highest scores from a watchdog organization that’s focused on transparency in corporate political spending.…Read More

Investors focus ESG on contrast between climate words and actions

Image of the outside of the Securities and Exchange Commission building

(Outlet: Roll Call) According to the Center for Political Accountability and the Zicklin Center for Governance and Business Ethics at the Wharton School’s CPA-Zicklin Index, nearly 78 percent of companies in the S&P 500 index fully or partially disclosed political spending last year.…Read More

On anniversary of the Capitol attack, companies face new pressures to disclose political spending

Police in riot gear surrounded by smoke pictured behind metal barricade protecting U.S. Capitol behind them.

(Outlet: Market Watch) CPA-Zicklin Index compiled in partnership between the Zicklin Center for Governance and Business Ethics at the Wharton School and the Center for Political Accountability provides insight into changes to political spending transparency and oversight.…Read More

ESG Under Fire in US State Capitols

(Outlet: Financial Times) This past weekend we read with interest The Economist’s deep dive into environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. The central argument is that ESG “is deeply flawed”; that it is riddled with greenwashing and has become “an unholy mess that needs to be ruthlessly streamlined”. Those who have been around this space for a while know there is a good bit of it that is indeed in need of a good pruning.…Read More

There’s Another Reason Companies Should Tread Carefully With Political influence — The Stock Market Is Watching

(Outlet: MarketWatch) – A nonprofit that pushes for better disclosure of corporate political spending is sharply expanding its effort to track how forthcoming companies are, with the greater scrutiny prompted by Wall Street’s largest money managers. …Read More