Financing a Sustainable Future
The Initiative in Sustainable Finance (ISF) at LSE applies academic rigour to study private sector incentives for financing a sustainable future. In this podcast, Dr Tom Gosling talks to academics about their research in a way accessible to practitioners and the general public.
Episodes
The Emergence of Pass-through Voting and its Implications for Shareholder Stewardship
Suren Gomtsyan talks to Tom Gosling about their paper "The Emergence of Pass-through Voting and its Implications for Shareholder Stewardship". Pass-through voting describes a range of approaches to enable investors in pooled investment funds to direct how the asset manager of the fund votes on shareholder resolutions at companies held by the fund. Suren and Tom discuss how the changing n
A theory of socially responsible investment
Martin Oehmke (LSE) talks to Tom Gosling about his paper A Theory of Socially Responsible Investment, co-authored with Marcus Opp of the Stockholm School of Economics. The paper develops a model of socially responsible investment anchored in the corporate finance decision faced by a firm. With a choice between dirty and (more expensive) clean technology. Martin explains how socially responsible i
Behind the Corporate Veil: How Business Groups Arbitrage ESG Disclosure Mandates
In this episode, Tom Gosling speaks with Stefano Cascino about how large business groups respond to ESG disclosure rules. When parent companies face mandatory ESG reporting, they often improve their own scores—while quietly shifting environmentally or socially harmful activities to subsidiaries, especially those operating in countries with weaker institutions. Tom and Stefano discuss how this “ESG
Credit Substitution in Sustainable Finance: An Achilles Heel?
Alperen Gözlügöl and Tom Gosling discuss the role that credit substitution plays in sustainable finance. One theory of change in sustainable finance is that directing credit allocation away from dirty firms and towards clean firms can cause the former to shrink and the latter to grow. In this interview, they discuss the ways in which credit substitution can cause this to break down. Putting pressu
The impact of green investors on stock prices
Tom Gosling talks to Dimitri Vayanos about the impact the green investors can have on stock prices by divesting from dirty firms and investing in green firms. There's a debate in the academic literature about whether the impacts are negligible or substantial. Using a theoretical model, Dimitri and his co-authors identify a significant but modest impact on cost of capital, measured in a few tens of
When private firms provide public goods: the allocation of CSR spending
Tom Gosling interviews Kim Fe Cramer, Assistant Professor of Finance on the compulsory CSR spending mandated for large Indian firms. They discuss how firms choose their CSR priorities and where they spend the money. CSR spending is focussed on a firm’s area of competitive advantage so is efficient, but is focussed in their home region, which often means that richer regions benefit from higher CSR
How co-ordinated engagements can enhance sustainability impact
Dr Xi Li discusses her research on coordinated shareholder engagement through the UN PRI. She explains why engagements with a clear leader are more likely to succeed, what makes effective leaders, and how collaboration pays off—both in impact and fund flows.Host: Tom GoslingContributor: Dr Xi Li Read Dr Xi Li's paper, Coordinated Engagements co-authored with Elroy Dimson and Oğuzhan KarakaşTo lear
Sustainable investing: beliefs, constraints, and the limits of impact
Tom Gosling speaks with Professor Dirk Jenter about what investors really believe about sustainability, how the constraints they face shape decisions, and why most aren’t willing to trade returns for impact. A candid look at the limits of sustainable investing today. Read Professor Dirk Jenter's paper 'Sustainable Investing in Practice: Objectives, Constraints, and Limits to Impact', co-authored w
The role of bank capital requirements in addressing climate change
Host: Tom GoslingContributor: Martin OehmkeTom Gosling interviews Professor Martin Oehmke on how bank capital rules might integrate climate risks. They debate whether rules can be used to incentivize green lending—or whether this would backfire—and why capital requirements can't play the same role as a carbon tax.Read Professor Martin Oehmke's paper Green Capital Requirements To learn more about t
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