Responsible Business

Grow the Pie: How Great Companies Deliver Both Purpose and Profit. Book (summary)
The Social Responsibility of Business. TEDx talk
Purposeful Business: The Evidence and the Implementation. Gresham College public lecture (transcript)
Finding the Purpose of Your Business. Economia column
Future Leaders, Take Note: Finance and Sustainability Go Together. Financial Times
Corporate Governance Green Paper is a Call to Arms. Financial Times article on how businesses must create long-term value for society
Why Purpose is Critical for Long-Term Success. World Economic Forum
There Is No Tradeoff Between Profit and Purpose, Huffington Post

Video Interviews / Debates

Stakeholder Capitalism: The Case For and Against. Debate with Harvard’s Prof. Lucian Bebchuk hosted by the FT’s Gillian Tett
The Power of Purposeful Business. Interview by FT Management Editor Andrew Hill

The End of ESG

A Progressive’s Case for Getting Rid of ‘ESG’. Wall Street Journal

Why Shareholder Value is Much More Responsible Than Often Thought

What Stakeholder Capitalism Can Learn From Milton Friedman. ProMarket
What Stakeholder Capitalism Can Learn From Jensen and Meckling. ProMarket
Two Years Later, Has the Business Roundtable Statement Transformed Capitalism? ProMarket
The Social Responsibility of Business Includes Profits. ProMarket
Critique of European Commission’s Study on Sustainable Corporate Governance
Why Shareholder Capitalism Benefits Wider Society. VoxEU French version in Finance & Gestion

Does Sustainable Investing Work?

Is Sustainable Investing Really a Dangerous Placebo? Medium; a response to Tariq Fancy
Sweeping Statements Don’t Capture Nuance Investment & Pensions Europe; a response to Tariq Fancy
Does Sustainable Investing Deliver On Its Promises? The Conversation article
Does Socially Responsible Investing Make Financial Sense? Wall Street Journal debate, with both the “Yes” and “No” side

Say-on-Purpose

How to Give Shareholders a Say in Corporate Social Responsibility. Wall Street Journal

Sustainability Reporting

Response to the Financial Reporting Council’s consultation on corporate reporting
The Dangers of Sustainability Metrics. VoxEU
Why Companies Shouldn’t Tie Pay to ESG Metrics. Wall Street Journal
No Stakeholder Left Behind: The Dangers of ESG Metrics. Medium

Employee Well-Being

28 Years of Stock Market Data Shows a Link Between Employee Satisfaction and Firm Value. Harvard Business Review
Why Happier Workers Matter More Than You Think. World Economic Forum
It’s Official: Why Doing Good By Your Employees Boost Stock Performance. CityAM
VIDEO: Why Firms With Happy Employees Beat the Competition. Yahoo Finance interview

Back to Policy & Practice

Access to Finance Blog

Are CEOs Really The Problem?

Are CEOs Really The Problem?

A reader (in fact, one that provided invaluable input into “Grow the Pie”) alerted me to the article “CEOs Are The ...
Is There Really No Evidence That ESG Strategies Outperform?

Is There Really No Evidence That ESG Strategies Outperform?

Scientific Beta has just released a study claiming that there is “no evidence that ESG strategies outperform” ...
Navigating the Challenges of Putting Purpose into Practice

Navigating the Challenges of Putting Purpose into Practice

In February 2021, Dee Corrigan, Head of Corporate Engagement at A Blueprint for Better Business interviewed me on ...
How Brown Stocks Produce Green Patents

How Brown Stocks Produce Green Patents

Should Investors Aim for a Net-Zero Portfolio? In 2020, Extinction Rebellion activists dug up the lawn of ...
What Stakeholder Capitalism Can Learn From Milton Friedman

What Stakeholder Capitalism Can Learn From Milton Friedman

Milton Friedman's article "The Social Responsibility of Business is to Increase Its Profits" is often ridiculed as ...
Paid Family Leave Improves Firm Productivity

Paid Family Leave Improves Firm Productivity

The Rights and Wrongs of Milton Friedman Milton Friedman’s infamous article, “The Social Responsibility of ...
Spurring Innovation: The Surprising Effects of Inequality

Spurring Innovation: The Surprising Effects of Inequality

A key principle in the book is that responsible business is not only about splitting the pie fairly (paying ...
Does Good ESG Performance Reduce the Cost of Debt?

Does Good ESG Performance Reduce the Cost of Debt?

Does superior social performance reduce the cost of capital - the return investors require for investing in a ...
Do Banks Offer Complex Mortgages to Mislead Customers?

Do Banks Offer Complex Mortgages to Mislead Customers?

Banks are often accused of making money off complex products that consumers don't understand. In my book, I ...
Connecting a Leader’s Vision With Employees’ Daily Tasks

Connecting a Leader’s Vision With Employees’ Daily Tasks

Companies often have inspiring purpose statements, such as "to bring health through food to as many people as ...
Responsible Citizenship in a Time of Crisis

Responsible Citizenship in a Time of Crisis

What does it mean to be a responsible citizen in a time of crisis? When faced with challenges of such a ...
Responsible Investing in a Time of Crisis

Responsible Investing in a Time of Crisis

What does it mean to be a responsible investor in a time of crisis? In my first article in this series, ...
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