Corporate Sustainability: Law and Limits of Market Solutions
Can markets ‘solve’ climate change, restore and protect other complex natural systems and advance the values of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI)? What basis, tools, and limits does the law provide for corporate leadership and market delivery of environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance?
After reviewing normative perspectives, this course will take an empirical approach to evaluate corporate incentives, strategies and impacts in applied practice. With a multinational emphasis, we will study US and European legal regimes and how they connect with voluntary standards and market expectations for sustainability (i.e., ‘non-financial’) performance and reporting. Grounded in case studies and the latest developments in legislation, litigation and executive action, we will critically assess implications for corporate leadership, law and policy.
Questions we will explore include:
What is the purpose of a corporation’s value - and the value of a corporation’s purpose?
How do governments affect market valuation of ‘non-financial’ corporate performance?
How do investors evaluate non-financial performance, and how are private-sector tools and expectations reflected in corporate disclosure laws?
How do companies incorporate sustainability impacts in strategic planning, enterprise risk management, and public disclosures? What's required by law and what adds value?
When does non-financial performance and reporting detract from financial performance, and when is it a material advantage? How and why does the law distinguish (and not)?
Where and when is considering non-financial performance as an element of investment decision-making required or limited by law?
How do freedom of speech and competition law advance or constrain market delivery of net-zero emissions, healthy ecosystems, and well-functioning boards of directors?
How do multinational companies respond to diverse, dynamic and sometimes divergent legal regimes and societal expectations?
How does today’s landscape inform strategies for harnessing markets to deliver environmentally sustainable and pro-social outcomes?