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Faculty across diverse disciplines are researching sustainability鈥檚 impact and exchanging findings.

鈥淭he problems of the world are what they are,鈥� said David Drake, associate professor and chair of the Social Responsibility and Sustainability Division. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 fit into partitions. We need to bring a multidisciplinary lens to it.鈥� Drake argues that sustainability is not an issue that fits neatly into one academic department: It鈥檚 interwoven with policy, business, the law, the economics of decisions, and behavioral responses.

As public awareness and academic interest in sustainability has exploded, there鈥檚 been a greater push to study it across nearly all business disciplines and collaborate with faculty from other colleges. 鈥淥ne thing that has become apparent is the powerful impact of bringing smart people together from across disciplines who are all examining the same set of issues from different perspectives,鈥� said Clare Wang, the听faculty director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility and Plante Moran / EKS&H Faculty Fellow.

Within the Leeds School of Business, researchers are actively studying the impacts of sustainability across auditing, investing, ESG reporting, accounting, marketing and other subgenres.

"One thing that has become apparent is the powerful impact of bringing smart people together from across disciplines who are all examining the same set of issues from different perspectives.鈥�

Clare Wang, Faculty Director of the Center for Ethics and Social Responsibility鈥�

Philip Fernbach, the Andrea & Michael Leeds Faculty Fellow and chair of the听Marketing Division, co-authored a 2022 study examining why people have opinions that go against the scientific consensus, including the role of humans in causing climate change. In a follow-up project, he is studying how knowledge impacts the acceptance of new technologies, including sustainable energy and the adoption of electric vehicles.

鈥淭his research is important because technological advances are changing the听world increasingly quickly,鈥� he explained. 鈥淯nderstanding the behavioral underpinnings of why new technologies are or are not accepted is critical to society,鈥� said Fernbach.

Drake pointed out that people often think of sustainability as environmental issues only. 鈥淵ou have to look at both,鈥� he said. He studies how businesses can take a product or service, rethink its delivery and facilitate a better social outcome.听For example, one of his studies examined how mobile money in Kenya and Uganda鈥攁 market solution to a dearth of banks in the rural, developing world鈥攊s being operationalized, what the pain points are and how business operations can be improved.

鈥淎 system can fail because it鈥檚 not environmentally sustainable, but it can also fail because it鈥檚 not socially sustainable.鈥� Drake explained that businesses need to be cognizant of the impact they鈥檙e having on the world and adjust their behavior accordingly. 鈥淎s an academic, I鈥檓 studying that. As a citizen of the world, I鈥檓 seeing that.鈥�

Tisone Professor of Accounting Jonathan Rogers co-authored a 2023 study that examined mutual funds鈥� determinants in ESG investment and demonstrated evidence that mutual funds increase their holdings as portfolio firms provide more environmental disclosure. He said an ever-changing regulatory environment and the amount of money involved are two big drivers for why researchers are so interested in studying sustainability from an accounting perspective. 鈥淭here is a role for our research to impact the regulations as they are being created and provide feedback to regulators about how the current environment is functioning.鈥�

Drake said he doesn鈥檛 have a specific answer for why there鈥檚 an uptick in researching sustainability. However, he did note that there is much more recent evidence of environmental and social impacts and more public awareness. That, he said, motivates academics.

鈥淟eeds鈥� long-term commitment to sustainability and social impact would seem to be precisely the kind of thing that is needed for something as inherently focused on the long-term as sustainability, right?鈥� Wang said. 鈥淚t can be hard to see how you make an impact on a global crisis, but if there is one thing we are learning, what we do here and now matters, and the lessons we learn have global importance.鈥�