Zicklin Center

Mary-Hunter “Mae” McDonnell Appointed Inaugural Faculty Recipient of Bantwal Family Goldman Sachs Presidential Professorship

Mae McDonnell smiles into the camera wearing a red shirt and black blazer in front of a wall of windows.

(Outlet: Wharton Press Release) It is with great pleasure that Penn Interim President J. Larry Jameson and Wharton Dean Erika James announce that Mary-Hunter (“Mae”) McDonnell has been named as the inaugural Bantwal Family Goldman Sachs Presidential Associate Professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.…Read More

Zicklin Bright Index

Stock image of the andes mountains in Peru with snow at their caps and green land at the bottom near a bright blue lake

The Zicklin Bright Index (ZBI) is a ranking established in 2023 that seeks to classify companies demonstrating notable human rights awareness into tiers. Researchers evaluate corporations in a specific region based on their publicly available information, self-disclosure, and gross revenue. Importantly, the ZBI does not measure direct human rights performance but rather emphasizes transparency and disclosure practices as fundamental social goods.…Read More

In our ‘hyper-polarized’ political climate, 20% of the S&P 500 is now doing this

A group of police officers and protesters stand in a road; some protestors hold American flags and one holds a red sign that reads "LOCK HIM UP."

(Outlet: MarketWatch) Watchdog and Wharton center release their latest study that tracks companies’ disclosures of political spending. According to the latest study co-authored by that organization, the Center for Political Accountability in Washington, D.C., and the Zicklin Center for Business Ethics Research at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, a growing number of S&P 500 companies have made the effort to earn the highest scores from a watchdog organization that’s focused on transparency in corporate political spending.…Read More

ESG Under Fire in US State Capitols

A digital chart with candlestick graph overlays a blurred cityscape, representing financial data analysis or stock market trends.

(Outlet: Financial Times) This past weekend we read with interest The Economist’s deep dive into environmental, social and governance (ESG) investing. The central argument is that ESG “is deeply flawed”; that it is riddled with greenwashing and has become “an unholy mess that needs to be ruthlessly streamlined”. Those who have been around this space for a while know there is a good bit of it that is indeed in need of a good pruning.…Read More