Business and Climate Change: Research & Faculty

Current Research Projects

Corporate Climate Change Initiatives and Employees
Vanessa Burbano and Stephen Meier
Professors Burbano and Meier are examining whether, how, and under what circumstances corporate climate change-related pledges and practices influence employee behavior and outcomes, as well as how employee behavior can be influenced to more positively affect corporate climate change outcomes. Through both experimental and field methodologies, they evaluate these relationships through a behavioral lens in order to help companies understand how their climate initiatives influence a key stakeholder group: their employees.

Two field experiments were conducted in 2023 with a working paper in progress.

Understanding and Shaping Consumer Behavior to Fight Climate Change
Gita Johar, Eric Johnson, Michael Morris, and Vicki Morwitz
Professors Johar, Johnson, Morris, and Morwitz are collectively undertaking research to better understand consumer behavior in the face of green choices. Eric Johnson’s research focuses on how to enable consumers to identify greener products, as well as to identify cases where there is a tradeoff between product categories, promoting improved carbon mental accounting. Vicki Morwitz and Gita Johar are researching the incorporation of theoretical climate change mitigation interventions and customer metrics into a digital platform to enable consumers to make more sustainable decisions. Michael Morris focuses on mechanisms to motivate consumers to buy green products. Each focus area demonstrates various methods to move consumer behavior in a more sustainable direction.

The paper was published in Nature Climate Change in June 2024. Read an associated piece from Anthropocene. 

Buying Green Starts in the Body: Exploring Communication Strategies to Increase Green Consumerism via Psychophysiology
Sheena Iyengar, Modupe Akinola, Michael White, and Sean Kaczmarek
Professors Iyengar and Akinola, PhD candidate White, and Research Staff Associate Kaczmarek examine how and to what extent physiological responses to climate change conversations are shaped by how information is delivered, as well as how subsequent behavior changes in relation to green consumerism. The researchers will employ a variety of contexts, samples, measures, and designs in an effort to better understand effective climate change communication techniques, ultimately demonstrating how psychophysiological reactions to organizational communication might impact consumer intentions and behaviors.

The related paper was published in Scientific Reports in March 2024, using climate change as one of the debate topics.

Using Climate Change Prediction Markets to Shift Climate Beliefs
Sandra Matz, Moran Cerf, and Malcolm MacIver (Northwestern)
Professors Matz, Cerf, and MacIver are examining the extent to which engagement with prediction markets can change attitudes and increase support for climate science. The researchers are evaluating which psychological mechanisms lead to changes in opinion towards climate science to: 1) better understand public opinion on climate solutions; 2) help policymakers understand their constituents; 3) offer predictions about climate outcomes that can be aggregated and used for scientific assessment; 4) introduce an additional financial instrument to help potentially mitigate climate risks; and 5) enable individuals to direct monetary resources into climate solutions.

The paper was published in Nature Climate Change in June 2023. Read the associated CBS Insights piece. 

Are Carbon Reduction Pledges Credible? The Case of US Oil and Gas Companies
Shiva Rajgopal, Hemang Desai (Southern Methodist), and Pauline Lam (NYU)
Professors Rajgopal, Desai (Southern Methodist), and Lam (NYU) are evaluating how the US oil and gas sector has responded to the increased pressure to decarbonize and reduce its greenhouse gas emissions. The researchers will compare companies’ pledges and related actions to better understand company behavior and the ways that the market responds to these commitments or their absence. This research will provide insights into mechanisms for achieving net zero, the feasibility of transition by various firms, the seriousness of different commitments, and the ways that capital markets react to these pledges.

The paper was published in Management Science in April 2023.

Clean Growth and Climate Change
Conor Walsh and Costas Arkolakis (Yale)
Professors Walsh and Arkolakis are examining the implications of falling power prices in renewables for both growth and emissions across regions and at a global scale. Using data on global power grids, energy capital, energy resources, and productivity growth, the researchers are assessing the effects of renewable adoption on global production and how productivity changes as a result of access to cheaper energy. This research will ultimately contribute to improvements in climate modelling on energy investment and trade patterns out to 2050.

The paper is under review with publication forthcoming. 

Additional Research and Insights

Faculty Leadership