This seminar is part of the SAFE Brown Bag Seminar Series, a seminar series for researchers affiliated with SAFE. Organized by the Leibniz Institute SAFE, the series provides an informal platform for presenting and discussing ongoing research and regularly features invited external speakers. The meeting takes place in the SAFE Common Room on Wednesday, 12.00-13.00.
Julian Kölbel (University of St.Gallen)
Julian will present a project titled “Index Provider Engagement and Corporate Climate Commitments: A Field Experiment” joint work with Florian Heeb.
Abstract:
We study whether index-provider engagement shifts corporate climate policy in a pre-registered field experiment. Firms in climate benchmark indices were randomly assigned a letter communicating that continued index eligibility is conditional on registering a science-based emission target (SBT). The treatment raises SBT commitments relative to controls; longer-term emissions analyses suggest that treatment also translates into measurable carbon emission reductions. We interpret the results through an attention framework: engagement can activate latent adopters who would benefit from adoption but did not evaluate costs and benefits without the letter. The results offer causal evidence on index-provider voice and speak to the broader impact of index design on corporate policies.
If you have questions, feel free to contact Alessandro Gastaldello.
