LSE Public Event with guest speaker Professor Christian Leuz and chaired by Dr Maria Correia, Department of Accounting
Attend in-person or online (Sheikh Zayed Theatre, Cheng Kin Ku Building)
Publicity and transparency are frequently proposed as solutions to societal and environmental problems; after all, sunlight is famously said to be the best of disinfectants. Professor Christian Leuz will review what we know about the role and effectiveness of transparency regimes that target particular corporate activities by shining the light on them.
Such regimes have become common place for consumer protection, food safety, healthcare, campaign contributions, conflicts of interest, and more. They are viewed as less intrusive and more benign than directly regulating corporate activities. But do they work? Or are transparency regimes simply politically more expedient? These questions are very relevant in the context of sustainability as many countries are requiring firms to provide reports on their impacts on the environment and society more broadly. We will therefore ask what transparency can do when it comes to widespread environmental impacts, such as greenhouse gas emissions. Can disclosure mandate help clean up the environment? What are the limitations of transparency and why it is not always the best solution?
Christian Leuz is the Charles F. Pohl Professor of Accounting and Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, an Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research, a Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy Research and the European Corporate Governance Institute. He studies disclosure and transparency in markets and regulation as well as sustainability and ESG. Thomson Reuters has recognized him on their list of “The World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds.”
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