Caroline Flammer

Focus areas: climate change, corporate governance, corporate social responsibility, ESG, impact investing, innovation, strategy, sustainable finance

Caroline Flammer is the A. Barton Hepburn Professor of Economics at Columbia University with joint appointments at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) and the Climate School, and a secondary appointment at Columbia Business School. She currently serves as the Vice Dean for Research and Faculty Affairs at SIPA. Caroline is also a Research Associate at the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a Research Fellow at the Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR), and a Research Member at the European Corporate Governance Institute (ECGI). She is an expert in sustainable investing and the recipient of numerous prestigious awards. Her research examines whether and how sustainable finance and impact investing can help finance a more sustainable world. Moreover, her research examines how, and under which conditions, firms can incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into their activities to enhance their competitiveness while strengthening—instead of undermining—the very system in which they operate and hereby play a critical role in addressing climate change, inequality, global health, and other grand challenges related to society and the natural environment. The Web of Science ranked her among the top-100 Highly Cited Researchers in the economics and business profession in terms of impact over the past 10 years. At Columbia, she serves as the Director of SIPA’s Sustainable Investing Research Initiative (SIRI) which aims to foster scholarship, education, and dialogue on system-level investing—the interplay and interdependencies between investment and major challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty, and social inequalities. Among other roles, Caroline serves as the President of the Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS), a global multi-disciplinary network of scholars fostering rigorous academic research on corporate sustainability, as a Council Member of the World Economic Forum (WEF)’s Global Future Council on the future of responsible investing, and as a Trustee at Domini Impact Investments. She also serves as Department Editor at Management Science. For further information: https://www.columbia.edu/~cf2870/.

Education

• Ph.D. in Economics, University of St. Gallen

Honors and Awards

• Named by the Web of Science among the top-100 Highly Cited Researchers in Economics and Business over the last decade (2020 and 2022)
• Climate Risk and Sustainable Finance Research Grant, GRI Global Risk Institute (PI: Flammer; grant period: July 2020 – 2022; $75,120)
• Dean’s Research Scholar, Boston University Questrom School of Business (2020)
• Responsible Research in Management Award (2020)
• Organizations and the Natural Environment-Network for Business Sustainability (ONE-NBS) Research Impact on Practice Award, ONE Division of the Academy of Management (2020, Honorable Mention) 
• Questrom Award for Institutional Leadership, Boston University Questrom School of Business (2019)
• Dean’s Research Scholar, Boston University Questrom School of Business (2018)
• Slatkin Family Research Fund Award, Boston University Questrom School of Business (2018)
• Sustainable Finance Geneva Innovation Award, Geneva Summit on Sustainable Finance (2018)
• PGGM Sustainable Asset Pricing and Impact Paper Award (2018)
• Outstanding Strategic Management Journal Editorial Board Member (Strategic Management Journal, 2016, 2017, 2018)
• Moskowitz Prize for Best Paper in Sustainable and Responsible Investing, UC Berkeley (2017)
• Fiegenbaum Best Paper Award, Israel Strategy Conference (2017)
• Distinguished Paper Award, Business Policy and Strategy (BPS) Division of the Academy of Management (2017)
• Investment for Impact Research Prize for outstanding research pertaining to the social impact of capital, UC Berkeley (2017, Second Prize)
• Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) Institute Research Award (2017, Honorable Mention)
• Investor Responsibility Research Center (IRRC) Institute Research Award (2016)
• Moskowitz Prize for Best Paper in Sustainable and Responsible Investing, UC Berkeley (2016, Honorable Mention)
• Organizations and the Natural Environment-Network for Business Sustainability (ONE-NBS) Research Impact on Practice Award, ONE Division of the Academy of Management (2016, Honorable Mention) 
• Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability (ARCS) Sustainability Scholar Award (2015)
• French Responsible Investment Forum - Principles for Responsible Investment (FIR-PRI) Award for Best Published Paper in Finance and Sustainability (2015)
• Ivey Emerging Leaders Award, Ivey Business School (2015)
• MBA ’80 Faculty Fellowship, Ivey Business School (2015 – 2016)
• Glueck Best Paper Award, STR (formerly BPS) Division, Academy of Management (2014)
• Moskowitz Prize for Best Paper in Sustainable and Responsible Investing, UC Berkeley (2013)
• Page Prize Award for Sustainability Issues in Business Curricula (2013, Honorable Mention)
• Research Fellowship of the Swiss National Science Foundation (2007, $36,500)