Topic: The CO2 Question: Technical Progress and the Climate Crisis

Speaker: Marcin Kacperczyk, Professor of Finance, Business School at Imperial College London

Time: 4:30pm-6:00pm, February 22

Location: 4-101

Abstract:

Are companies gravitating towards green R&D and is corporate behavior, in particular carbon emissions, affected by green technical progress? Based on global patent filings and corporate financial reporting, we analyze corporate green and brown R&D activity and its effects in reducing carbon emissions. We find consistent evidence of limited green R&D by brown companies. Innovating companies with higher carbon emissions engage more in brown R&D and less in green R&D. Despite a steady rise in the share of green R&D, we find little evidence that green innovation reduces the future carbon emissions of 1) innovating firms, 2) non-innovating firms in the same sector, 3) firms in other sectors and, 4) across countries. Direct and indirect emissions are not significantly affected by green innovation across all sectors and around the world, whether in the short term (one year after filing a green patent) or in the medium term (three or five years after filing).

About the speaker:

Marcin Kacperczyk is a Professor of Finance at Imperial College London with research interests in the areas of sustainable investments, climate finance, information economics, financial intermediation, and financial stability. He is a Research Associate at the Center for Economic Policy Research, a research advisor at the European Central Bank, and the managing editor of the Review of Finance. Marcin’s work has been widely covered by media, such as CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, WSJ, FT, NYT, Business Week, U.S. News, and Washington Post. He is a past holder of the European Research Council research grant and former President of the European Finance Association.