IÖW Scientist Andrea Liesen Presented with Best Dissertation Award by the Academy of Management
On August 12th IÖW scientist Dr Andrea Liesen was presented with the Best Dissertation Award 2013 by the Organizations and the Natural Environment (ONE) Divisionof the Academy of Management (AOM). In her PhD thesis ‘Climate Change and Asset Prices – Evidence on Market Inefficiency in Europe’, written at the University of Leeds, Andrea Liesen examines the efficiency of financial markets to correctly price companies’ climate change induced systematic risks. Results of her empirical analysis of over 400 European firms show that share prices between 2005 and 2009 did not take sufficient account of companies’ climate risks, which can have far-reaching consequences for investors and investment decisions in the economy as a whole. The chair of the award committee noted that all members of the jury had placed Andrea Liesen’s thesis first or second, amongst stiff competition in a very strong group. The prize was awarded at the 73rd Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Lake Buena Vista (Orlando), Florida, in cooperation with Sage Publications.
Climate risks undervalued by financial markets
Andrea Liesen: “I’m delighted that my thesis was rewarded with the prize. Stock markets and climate change have more effects on our daily lives than most of us wish for. Examining the relationship between the two – and not looking for ‘green profits’ but for long-term consequences – was a very rewarding task for me. Fact is: Companies have to reduce their GHG-emissions in the light of political and other stakeholders pressure. However, the exact cost incurred by companies to reduce their GHG-emissions is unknown, which is why climate change can be regarded a market-wide risk. My empirical analysis can show that such risk is not taken into account sufficiently by financial markets. If the market potentially corrects this inefficiency, a significant shift in share prices can take place.”
Founded in 1936, the Academy of Management is an association of scientists and organisations that work on management issues. Several scientific journals are published by the association, such as the ‘Academy of Management Journal’ and the ‘Academy of Management Review’. It also organises conferences and offers professors and teaching staff working in the management discipline a platform for discussing research and new ideas. Currently the AOM has over 18,000 members in 110 countries. The division ‘Organizations and the Natural Environment’ (ONE) is concerned with the relationship between organizations and the natural environment.
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More on Andrea Liesen’s thesis: Liesen, Andrea (2012): Climate Change and Asset Prices – Evidence on Market Inefficiency in Europe. PhD thesis, University of Leeds, http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/2870/
More on the Academy of Management: www.aom.org