The Climate Center conducts academically rigorous and practically relevant research on topics at the intersection of business, markets, finance, and policy surrounding climate change, energy, and the environment, including the impacts of mispricing of climate risks and opportunities on financial markets and business strategies, how effective environmental policies can correct this mispricing, and environmental ethics. Informed by this research, we offer 10+ courses that MBA and undergraduate students can assemble into the Business, Energy, Environment and Sustainability (BEES) major or concentration, over a dozen co-curricular experiences, four Executive certificate programs, and an expanding array of industry and policy convenings. We advance Wharton’s best-in-class education of current and future leaders, equipping them with the tools, skills, and perspectives needed to navigate a world in which climate risks and opportunities are increasingly material.
Knowledge at Wharton’s
Ripple Effect Podcast
Every day, business scholars answer pressing questions in their research — but what do their insights mean for you? In this podcast, Wharton faculty dive into what inspired their studies and how their findings resonate with the world today. Learn how research insights translate into knowledge you can use, with host Dan Loney.
Why Climate Risk Is Financial Risk | Witold Henisz
Why Is Greenwashing So Concerning? | Sarah Light
Who Does Climate Change Hit the Hardest? | Susanna Berkouwer
Who Is Responsible for the Planet? | Brian Berkey
The Wharton Climate Center is proud to be a Leading Partner of ClimateCAP
ClimateCAP is a partnership of more than 35 leading business schools collaborating to prepare MBA students to understand and respond to the climate challenge. Managed by Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, ClimateCAP offers unique opportunities for faculty, staff, and MBA students at Partner Schools. We encourage all Wharton MBA students to take full advantage of the events, programs, and resources offered to you for free as part of the Wharton Climate Center’s partnership.
Faculty Leadership
ARTHUR VAN BENTHEM
Professor of Business Economics and Public Policy
Faculty Co-Director, Wharton Climate Center
SARAH E. LIGHT
Mitchell J. Blutt and Margo Krody Blutt Presidential Professor Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics
Faculty Co-Director, Wharton Climate Center
Affiliated Scholars
Hamsa Bastani
Associate Professor of Operations, Information and Decisions
Associate Professor of Statistics and Data Science
Research Areas: Machine Learning Algorithms and Applications to Healthcare; Revenue Management; Social Good
Brian Berkey
Associate Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics
Research Areas: Climate Ethics; Climate Justice; Animal Ethics
Susanna Berkouwer
Assistant Professor in Business Economics & Public Policy
Research Areas: Environmental Economics; Development Economics; Political Economy; Behavioral Economics
Sanya Carley
Presidential Distinguished Professor of Energy Policy and City Planning
Research areas: Energy Justice and Just Transitions; Energy Insecurity; Electricity and Transportation Policies; Public Perceptions of Energy Infrastructure and Technologies
Francis X. Diebold
Paul F. Miller, Jr. and E. Warren Shafer Miller Professor of Social Sciences
Professor of Economics, Finance and Statistics
Research areas: Dynamic Predictive Climate Modeling; Actic Sea Ice; Climate Econometrics
Paul Forrester
Assistant Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics
Research areas: Political Philosophy, Business Ethics
Daniel Garrett
Assistant Professor of Finance
Research areas: Public Finance, Financial Intermediation, Corporate Finance, Taxation
Mirko Heinle
Associate Professor of Accounting
Research areas: Theoretical Research in Financial and Managerial Accounting
Witold Henisz
Vice Dean and Faculty Director of the Impact, Value, and Sustainable Business Initiative
Deloitte & Touche Professor of Management in Honor of Russell E. Palmer, former Managing Partner
Research Areas: Climate Risk Disclosure; Materiality & Management of ESG Factors
Benjamin Keys
Rowan Family Foundation Professor
Professor of Real Estate
Professor of Finance
Research Areas: Property Markets; Housing Markets; Mortgage Markets
Steven Kimbrough
Professor of Operations, Information, and Decisions
Research Areas: Risk & Uncertainty; Deep Decarbonation Pathways; Market Design
Cait Lamberton
Duran President’s Distinguished Professor of Marketing
Research areas: Consumer Psychology; Financial Decision Making; Risk Management
John Paul Macduffie
Professor of Management
Research Areas: Vehicle & Mobility Innovations; Urban Transportation; Environmental Law & Policy
Eric Orts
Guardsmark Professor
Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics and Professor of Management
Research Areas: Corporate Governance, Environmental Law and Policy, Environmental Management, Professional Ethics, Securities Regulation, Democratic Theory, Constitutional law
Jisung Park
Assistant Professor, School of Social Policy and Practice and Business Economics and Public Policy at Wharton
Research areas: Climate Impacts; Climate Adaptation; Climate Equity
Leandro S. Pongeluppe
Assistant Professor of Management
Research Areas: Stakeholder Management and Socioeconomic Development
Sandra Schafhäutle
Assistant Professor of Accounting
Research Areas: Use of Information in Capital Markets; Corporate Disclosure; Transparency and Disclosure Incentives; Supply Chains
Nicolaj Siggelkow
David M Knott Professor
Vice Dean, Wharton MBA Program
Co-Director, Mack Institute for Innovation Management
Professor of Management
Research Areas: Environmental Sustainability and Competitive Advantage; Connected Strategy
Luke Taylor
John B. Neff Professor in Finance, Professor of Finance
Co-Director, Rodney L. White Center for Financial Research
Coordinator of Finance PhD Program
Research Areas: Sustainable Investing, Climate Finance
Contributing Doctoral Students
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Wharton Impact
Doctoral Student, Operations, Information and Decisions Department
Doctoral Student, Business Economics and Public Policy Department
Doctoral Student, Business Economics and Public Policy Department
Doctoral Student, Operations, Information and Decisions Department
Doctoral Student, Business Economics and Public Policy Department
Featured Research
In Firm Ownership and Pollution, Wharton’s Arthur van Benthem and co-authors demonstrate how much of what leads a firm to “internalize its externalities” in pollution depends on its ownership distribution among small and large shareholders. Using a theoretical micro foundation, van Benthem and his colleagues contend that small shareholders, compared to larger ones, would want the firm to spend more on avoiding pollution because they suffer less in terms of loss in profit for the same environmental benefit that they all more or less equally enjoy as citizens. Their theoretical model offers a new way to think about the link between corporate governance and environmental impact. Read more in Knowledge at Wharton.
In Climate extremes and urbanization drive flood tipping points at the city–river interface, Wharton’s Leandro Pongeluppe and co-authors develop a street-resolving flood model that integrates LiDAR-derived terrain, bathymetric surveys, and land-use-based surface friction across Philadelphia’s watershed to reproduce Hurricane Ida’s flood. They show that soil saturation, impervious surfaces, and fragmented infrastructure amplify pluvial flooding, increasing exposure in both low- and high-income communities. Scenario simulations reveal a flood tipping point. As extreme rainfall intensifies and return periods shorten, this tipping point will be crossed more often, demanding integrated forecasting and adaptive planning in vulnerable, low-lying, rapidly urbanizing regions.
In Marketing scholarship and environmentally-sustainable retailing: a two-stage framework for greener consumption and production, Wharton’s David Reibstein and co-authors demonstrate how marketing scholarship in the retailing domain can play an important role in advancing environmentally sustainable consumption and production. They synthesize prior research across marketing and related fields and introduce a novel two-stage framework that examines sustainability interventions through the lens of retail actor interactions. Their framework informs marketing scholars by highlighting research gaps, by revealing barriers that limit the effectiveness of current interventions, and by pointing to opportunities to adapt successful approaches across actors to better support sustainability goals.
In The Efficiency of Dynamic Electricity Prices, Wharton’s Arthur van Benthem and co-authors use statistical analysis and a machine-learning exercise to model different electricity-pricing scenarios. Electricity is “mispriced,” as the marginal cost of electricity fluctuates hour-by-hour, yet retail customers typically face flat prices. The study has three main findings: First, time-of-use rates and critical-peak pricing — the two commonly used time-varying rate plans — each correct about 10% of mispricing. Second, complex time-of-use rate structures based on historical prices often backfire. Third, real-time pricing with price ceilings can capture most potential efficiency gains, and increased automation will help make this possible. This study demonstrates how consumers can save money and the grid can avoid unnecessary peak-load power plants.
In An evaluation of protected area policies in the EU, Wharton’s Arthur van Benthem and co-authors Tristan Grupp (World Resources Institute), Prakash Mishra (Caltech) and Mathias Reynaert (Toulouse School of Economics) conduct a comprehensive analysis using remote-sensing data dating back to 1985 to find whether the land protection efforts of EU member states have contributed to the continent’s greening. They show that across the entirety of the EU, protected areas appear to have greened no differently than similar land which was never protected. Their evidence suggests that while the EU’s plan appears ambitious, more rigorous efforts are needed to protect nature where it faces the most significant threats.
In Transparency and Real Effects of Climate Stress Tests for Banks, Wharton’s Luzi Hail and co-authors Jannis Bischof, Vincent Giese, and Gerrit von Zedlitz examine whether microprudential climate stress tests affect banks’ reporting choice, loan portfolios, and environmental performance. Focusing on the 230 largest European banks from 2017 to 2022, they find that participants in supervisory climate stress tests significantly increase their transparency, mainly if they have previously shown commitment to climate issues, face outside ESG pressure, or are more exposed to climate risks. Their results suggest that, while on average they find no effects, supervisory stress tests can act as change agents and elicit feedback effects for banks facing strong climate-related incentives, impose funding and investment constraints on high-risk borrowers, but also trigger (unintended) substitution to less committed and less tightly regulated banks.
Featured publications
Severen, C., & van Benthem, A.A. Formative Experiences and the Price of Gasoline. Forthcoming in the American Economic Journal: Applied Economics.
Berkey, B. Prospects for an Animal-Friendly Business Ethics. Forthcoming in Animals and Business Ethics (Springer).
Berkouwer, S.B., Biscaye, P.E., Puller, S., & Wolfram, C.D. (2022). Disbursing emergency relief through utilities: Evidence from Ghana. Journal of Development Economics, 102826.
Bhutta, N., & Keys, B. (2022). “Moral Hazard during the Housing Boom: Evidence from Private Mortgage Insurance.” Review of Financial Studies, 35(2): 771–813.
Berkouwer, S., Wolfram, C., Miguel, E., & Hsu, E. “What does donor conditionality do? Causal evidence from Kenyan electrification.”
McGlinch, J., & Henisz, W. “Reexamining the Win-Win: Relational Capital, Stakeholder Issue Salience, and the Contingent Benefits of Value Based Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Strategies.” (Under Review)
Perino, G., Ritz, R.A., & van Benthem, A.A. “Cancelling Carbon in Cap-and-Trade Systems.” Latest draft: February 2022.
Abito J.M., Flores-Golfin, F., van Benthem, A.A. & Vasey, G. “Designing More Cost-Effective Trading Markets for Renewable Energy.” Latest draft: February 2022.
Berkey, B., & Orts, E.W. (2021). The Climate Imperative for Business. California Management Review (Insights/Frontier).
Abito, J.M, Knittel, C.R., Metaxoglou, K., & Trindade, A, “The Role of Output Reallocation and Investment in Coordinating Environmental Markets.” Revise & Resubmit at International Journal of Industrial Organization.
Berkouwer, S., & Dean, J.T. “Credit, attention, and externalities in the adoption of energy efficient technologies by low-income households.” Revise & Resubmit at the American Economic Review.
Perino, G., Ritz, R.A.& van Benthem, A.A. “Understanding Overlapping Policies: Internal Carbon Leakage and the Punctured Waterbed.” Latest draft: December 2021.
Jacobsen, M.R., Sallee, J.M., Shapiro J.S., & van Benthem, A.A. “Regulating Untaxable Externalities: Are Vehicle Air Pollution Standards Effective and Efficient?” Latest draft: December 2021.
Berkouwer, S., Adkins, J., Hsu, E., Klugman, N., Streff, A., & Wall, A. (2021). What’s reliability without voltage quality? Energy for Growth Hub. November 29.
van Benthem, A.A., Crooks, E., Giglio, S., Schwob, E., & Stroebel, J.C. “Climate Risks, Financial Markets, and the Energy Sector.” Latest draft: October 2021.
Han, J.S., Houde, J.F., van Benthem, A.A. & Abito, J.M. “Agency Frictions and Procurement: New Evidence from U.S. Electricity Restructuring.” Latest draft: August 2021.
Light, S.E., & Skinner, C.P. (2021). Banks and Climate Governance. 121 Columbia Law Review 1895.
Gillingham, K.T., Houde, S., & van Benthem, A.A. (2021). Consumer myopia in vehicle purchases: evidence from a natural experiment. American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 13(3), 207-38.
Han, J.S., Houde, J.F., van Benthem, A.A. & Abito, J.M. (2021). When Does Regulation Distort Costs? Lessons from Fuel Procurement in US Electricity Generation: Comment. American Economic Review, 111(4): 1356-1372.
MacDuffie, J.P., & Light. S.E. (2021). EV Turning Point: Momentum Builds for U.S. Electric Vehicle Transition. Yale Environment 360.
Light, S.E. (2021). National Parks, Incorporated. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 169, Rev. 33.
Abito, J.M. (2020). Measuring the Welfare Gains from Optimal Incentive Regulation. Review of Economic Studies, 87(5): 2019–2048,
Engström, G., Gars, J., Jaakkola, N., Lindahl, T., Spiro, D., & van Benthem, A.A. (2020). What Policies Address Both the Coronavirus Crisis and the Climate Crisis? Environmental and Resource Economics 76(4): 789-810.
Wiley, H.J.P., & Kousky, C. (2020). Speeding Up Post-Disaster Housing Buyouts. Solutions. 11(3). September.
Bento, A.M., Jacobsen, M.R., Knittel, C.R., & van Benthem, A.A. (2020). Estimating the Costs and Benefits of Fuel Economy Standards. In: M.J. Kotchen, J.H. Stock, and C.D. Wolfram (eds.), Environmental and Energy Policy and the Economy 1.
Berkouwer, S.B. (2020). Electric Heating and the Effects of Temperature on Household Electricity Consumption in South Africa. The Energy Journal, 41:04
Schneeman, B.O., Lamberton, C., et al. (2020). A National Strategy to Reduce Food Waste at the Consumer Level. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. https://doi.org/10.17226/25876.
Jacobsen, M.R., Knittel, C.R., Sallee J.M., & van Benthem, A.A. (2020). The Use of Regression Statistics to Analyze Imperfect Pricing Policies. Journal of Political Economy 128(5).
Kunreuther, H. & Slovic, P. (2020). What the Coronavirus Curve Teaches Us About Climate Change. Politico Magazine. March.
A Brief History
Formerly known as The Wharton Risk Management and Decision Processes Center, the Climate Center brings more than 37 years of academic rigor and research, ranging from climate change, to energy markets, to disaster risk financing and reduction strategies. The Climate Center joined the Impact, Value, and Sustainable Business Initiative (formerly ESG Initiative) on July 1, 2022.