The Grossman School of Business (GSB) hosted its bi-annual Research Seminar Series on October 27, 2023 featuring renowned Professor Andrew King from Boston University's Questrom School of Business. Open to faculty and graduate students across the university, GSB’s Research Seminar Series aims to bring in prominent management scholars to UVM to present current research and explore opportunities for collaboration at the frontiers of business research.
This year's visiting speaker was selected for the relevance and importance of his research beyond disciplinary boundaries. Professor King is an internationally renowned scholar in the field of sustainable business and has emerged in recent years as a leading voice on the perils of entrusting voluntary corporate initiatives to resolve environmental problems. The seminar delved into King’s research about whether corporate responsibility (or CSR), as measured by environmental, social, and governance (ESG) ratings, is beneficial to firm profits and investor returns, as well as how to interpret discoveries and how future research can be trustworthy and beneficial.
King’s seminar presentation focused on his recent efforts to improve the quality and reliability of broader social science research through examining reproducibility of prominent published studies concerning the relationship between corporate sustainability and financial performance. Professor King’s key takeaways for researchers was to build the understanding that a causal relationship between business sustainability and profitability remains unproven, and that producing reliable research requires careful attention to a thorough and robust analytical methodology.
His presentation was well received and generated thoughtful and animated discussion among the roughly thirty faculty and graduate student attendees. All who attended were able to brainstorm and enjoy collegial time with Professor King over lunch.