Research: The ESG Issues That Matter Most to People

by Daniel J. Benjamin, Ori Heffetz and Michael M. Weinstein

July 18, 2023

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Summary.

For many corporate managers, improving their firms’ ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) performance is a central goal. To achieve it, they face trade-offs: Should they improve treatment of their workers, or instead reduce carbon emissions? Should they protect shareholders or the human rights of overseas workers?

Daniel J. Benjamin is a tenured professor with joint appointments at the UCLA Anderson School of Management and the Human Genetics Department at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine. He is a co-founder and co-director of the Social Science Genetic Association Consortium, a multidisciplinary enterprise that provides a platform for collaboration between geneticists and social scientists. He is a member of JUST Capital’s External Expert Committee.

Ori Heffetz is an associate professor at the Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management, Cornell SC Johnson College of Business, and a professor at the Bogen Family Department of Economics, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He is a member of JUST Capital’s External Expert Committee.

Michael M. Weinstein earned a Ph.D. in economics from M.I.T. and served as economics columnist and member of the Editorial Board for The New York Times during the 1990s. Later, he directed grantmaking for the Robin Hood Foundation. He serves as chairman of several nonprofits and is on the board of JUST Capital.

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Research: The ESG Issues That Matter Most to People

Summary.

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