Emerging Trends in Corporate Social Responsibilitie Data and Disclosure: Opportunities and Challenges
When: Thursday, November 14, 4:15pm
Where: Belfer, Weil Town Hall, Lobby Level – Harvard Kennedy School
After many years of spotty and anecdotal Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting by corporations, we are currently on the verge of seeing systematic disclosure of corporate social and environmental data mandated and integrated into financial reporting. Why these developments are at this point virtually inevitable and what their potential for fundamentally changing the way we think about the theory of the corporation and the purpose and practice of investment are the subjects of this talk. The history of CSR reporting will be briefly reviewed, the reasons driving mandated, integrated CSR reporting examined, and the implications of these developemtns for corporate management and investment practice explored. Steven Lydenberg is Founding Director of the Initiative for Responsible Investment at the Hauser Institute for Civil Society at Harvard University. He has been active in responsible investment research since 1975. Steve was co-founder of KLD Research & Analytics, Inc. and served as its reserach director from 1990 to 2001. From 1987 to 1989, he was an associate at Trillium Asset Management. For 12 years starting in 1975, he worked with the Council on Economic Priorities, ultimately as director of corporate accountability research. He is author of the award-winning paper, “Reason, Rationality and Fiduciary Duty,” the report “On Materiality and Sustainability: The Value of Disclosure in the Capital Markets,” and co-author of the recently published book, Dilemmas in Socially responsible Investment(Greenleaf Publishing). Steve holds a B.A. in English from Columbia College and an M.F.A. in theater arts from Cornell University. He holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation and is a member of the Boston Security Analysts Society.