Academic Thought - Sustainability Action

The Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise conducts both scholarly and applied research. Our scholarly work pushes the envelope on sustainability science, while our applied research drives impact here and now through practical hands-on approaches for management. The institute focuses on four priority research areas:  Human Development, Global Change, Corporate Governance and Conscious Consumption. Read more about Erb Institute - Business for Sustainability here.

Featuring articles by:

Joe Árvai is the Max McGraw Professor of Sustainable Enterprise, and the Director of the Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. Joe is an internationally recognized expert in the risk and decisions sciences, with a specific focus on developing and testing decision-aiding tools and approaches that can be used by people to improve decision quality across a wide range of environmental, social, and economic contexts.

Andrew (Andy) Hoffman is the Holcim (US) Professor of Sustainable Enterprise at the University of Michigan. Professor Hoffman's research uses organizational behavior models and theories to understand the cultural and institutional aspects of environmental issues for organizations.  

Thomas P. Lyon holds the Dow Chair of Sustainable Science, Technology and Commerce. Professor Lyon uses economic analysis to understand corporate environmental strategy and how it is shaped by emerging government regulations, non-governmental organizations, and consumer demands.

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Research, Reports & Publications

Cobalt, Lithium-ion Batteries and Social Sustainability
Cobalt is key in emerging low-carbon technologies, specifically lithium-ion batteries in electric vehicles. It forms part of the cathode active material (for example, lithium cobalt oxide, LiCoO2) that receives positively charged lithium ions during the battery’s discharge.

Research, Reports & Publications

In Clean Energy Portfolios, Money Isn’t Everything – Research by Erb Institute Faculty Director, Joe Arvai
People may be more willing to pay for clean energy and strategies that dramatically reduce emissions than previous studies have suggested, according to new research by Michigan State University Professor Douglas Bessette and University of Michigan Professor Joseph Árvai, “Engaging Attribute Tradeoffs in Clean Energy Portfolio Development,” published in Energy Policy. Árvai is the Erb Institute’s faculty director.

Research, Reports & Publications

A Right to Water – Is Water a Human Right or a Commodity?
Is water a human right or a commodity? It’s treated like both. As water scarcity becomes more pressing, both public and private entities have had to examine their stances on how water resources should be controlled. These issues frequently arise in the developing world, where water resources and sanitation often are inadequate—but are now arising increasingly in U.S. cities, when drinking water gets contaminated or residents can’t pay their water bills.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

Activism: Help or Hindrance to Business?
For many people, the combination of activists and industry brings to mind images of protestors chanting while marching with signs and banners in front of a company’s store, headquarters or production facility. For others, it suggests the maneuverings of shareholder activists—equity stakeholders using their investments to pressure a company’s management into some form of policy change. What it might not evoke is visions of support, cooperation or collaboration.

Research, Reports & Publications

Business Sustainability 2.0: Market Transformation (Adapted from “The Next Phase of Business Sustainability” by Andy Hoffman)

Events, Media & Communications

Academia's Crisis of Relevance - Erb Institute Faculty Member, Andy Hoffman Leads Seminar at Amherst
In December, the University of Michigan's Andy Hoffman led a panel at Amherst’s Institute for Social Science Research, promising to be “provocative in order to push scientists outside of their comfort zones, and scientific institutions into faster change.” Hoffman, who earned his BA in chemical engineering from UMass Amherst and his PhD in management/civil & environmental engineering from MIT, quickly delivered on that promise, with a review of studies on the “abysmal state” of public perceptions of science.

Responsible Business & Employee Engagement

What Can We Learn from MBA Students in China on Business Sustainability?
Dr. Thomas P. Lyon recently taught a short course at Shanghai Jiao Tong University on Corporate Environmentalism and Public Policy. Lyon holds the Dow Chair of Sustainable Science, Technology and Commerce, with appointments in both the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business and School for Environment and Sustainability. He talked with the Erb Institute about his experience teaching on these topics in Shanghai.

Research, Reports & Publications

A New Model for Building Social-Benefit Markets – Research by Jacqueline Corbett and Erb Institute Visiting Scholar, Wren Montgomery
Like all markets, social-benefit markets provide a platform for buyers and sellers to exchange commodities, but they are distinguished by their unique goal of improving social and environmental conditions. For example, most people are familiar with carbon trading markets, which aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Social-benefit markets are not only a promising strategy to combat pressing social and environmental problems; they are also contributing significantly to the world economy, with trading volumes estimated to reach $1 trillion by 2020. Still, the problems that these social-benefit markets address are large, complex and multifaceted; their development and sustenance therefore will require novel entrepreneurial approaches.

Research, Reports & Publications

When Does It Pay for Companies to Signal That They Are “Green?” – Research by Tom Lyon, Erb Institute Faculty
The prevailing wisdom says that it pays to be green. However, some research has demonstrated negative market consequences to companies’ voluntary emissions reductions. Why is this? One answer may lie in “regulator discretion.”

Environment

Public Pecerptions of Solar Radiation Management with Erb Institute | Business for Sustainability Faculty Director Joe Arvai
A group of researchers, including Erb Institute Faculty Director Joseph Árvai, set out to study public perceptions of this technology in different countries, and their findings were published in Climatic Change—“Beliefs and Values Explain International Differences in Perception of Solar Radiation Management: Insights from a Cross-Country Survey,” by Vivianne H.M. Visschers, Jing Shi, Michael Siegrist and Joseph Árvai.

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