Publications
Research
Reimagining Shareholder Advocacy on Environmental and Social Issues: The promise and pitfalls of ‘E&S stewardship’
Our most recent report on ESG written by Michael Goldhaber, highlights how shareholder advocacy ought to focus on achieving real-world impact for the environment and society, rather than settling for low-bar goals or non-binding promises.
Knight Diversity of Asset Managers Research Series: Higher Education 2024
A new paper by the NYU Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, Knight Foundation, and Global Economics Group examines how or if 50 of the wealthiest U.S. colleges and universities invest their endowment funds with diverse-owned asset management firms.
Making ESG Real: A Return to Values-Driven Investing
Our most recent report on ESG, written by Michael Goldhaber, explains the historical wrong turn taken by ESG investors and proposes ways to re-prioritize the protection of the environment and society.
Knight Diversity of Asset Managers Research Series: Higher Education, Interim Release
An interim study on the degree to which the endowments of the country’s wealthiest private and public colleges and universities are hiring asset management firms owned by women and racial or ethnic minorities
Seeking A ‘Smart-Mix’: Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives and Mandatory Human Rights Due Diligence
In our white paper, we delve into the role of Multi-Stakeholder Initiatives (MSIs) in defining and implementing industry-specific human rights standards, highlighting their potential to shape meaningful corporate practices with government support.
Making ESG Work: How Investors Can Help Improve Low-Wage Labor And Ease Income Inequality
Our report explains how outsourcing has reshaped corporate workforces in ways that ESG assessments do not adequately capture and proposes a new approach to addressing this gap.
Putting The ‘S’ In ESG: Measuring Human Rights Performance For Investors
The Center published an in-depth study of 12 leading frameworks for assessing companies’ social practices and impacts. It found that current measurement focuses on what is most convenient rather than most meaningful. Ninety-two percent of measures looked at company governance structures without any attempt to evaluate the effectiveness of those structures.