New Books in Economics Lily Hsueh, "Corporations at Climate Crossroads: Multilevel Governance, Public Policy, and Global Climate Action" (MIT Press, 2025)
Oct 17, 2025
Lily Hsueh, an Associate Professor at Arizona State University, explores the intricate dynamics of corporate environmentalism and governance. She shares insights from her research on proactive corporate actions such as renewables and emissions targets. Hsueh discusses the Carbon Disclosure Project, its significance for investors, and the tension between regulatory rollbacks and corporate commitments. She also highlights the importance of local and global policies in driving climate action, emphasizing the role of businesses in mitigating emissions across supply chains.
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Silicon Valley Sparked Her Inquiry
- Lily Hsueh grew up in Silicon Valley and witnessed early corporate environmentalism around industry pollution and activism.
- Those experiences motivated her to study how markets, politics, and regulation shape firm behavior on environmental issues.
What Corporate Environmentalism Means
- Corporate environmentalism includes proactive firm actions like renewable investments, emissions targets, and internal carbon pricing.
- These self-regulatory moves can be firm-wide or local and span operations, community work, and strategy.
Disclosure ≠ Environmental Performance
- The CDP surveys firms on governance, strategy, and emissions and assigns letter grades for disclosure maturity.
- Hsueh warns disclosure grades reflect outputs not actual environmental performance or emissions outcomes.
