How do CSR rating schemes influence corporate behavior? : lessons from the utility industry
Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2015.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | eng |
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Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2015
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/99070 |
| _version_ | 1826213580869992448 |
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| author | Rutledge, Elisabeth Lea |
| author2 | Judith Layzer. |
| author_facet | Judith Layzer. Rutledge, Elisabeth Lea |
| author_sort | Rutledge, Elisabeth Lea |
| collection | MIT |
| description | Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2015. |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:51:31Z |
| format | Thesis |
| id | mit-1721.1/99070 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T15:51:31Z |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/990702019-04-11T03:05:55Z How do CSR rating schemes influence corporate behavior? : lessons from the utility industry How do corporate social responsibility rating schemes influence corporate behavior? : lessons from the utility industry Rutledge, Elisabeth Lea Judith Layzer. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Urban Studies and Planning. Urban Studies and Planning. Thesis: S.M., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Urban Studies and Planning, 2015. Cataloged from PDF version of thesis. Includes bibliographical references (pages 42-43). Ninety-three percent of the world's largest 250 companies report data to voluntary corporate social responsibility (CSR) rating schemes, and over 380 CSR rating schemes exist to assess companies' corporate actions. While reporting to CSR rating schemes may signal that a company takes responsibility for its environmental, social, and economic impacts, the correlation between responding to CSR rating schemes and taking meaningful action to minimize those impacts is still not entirely clear. This thesis asks, "Does responding to CSR rating schemes encourage corporate sustainability within organizations in the electric utility industry?" I sought to answer this question by conducting in-depth interviews with representatives of six companies in the electric utility sector about their reporting approach to the two most widely used rating schemes, the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI). I focused on the electric utility industry to ensure comparability and because this sector is strongly positioned to signal corporate sustainability trends given its current technological transformation, traditional use of fossil fuels, and heavily regulated structure. Based on these interviews I conclude that CSR rating schemes have succeeded in encouraging companies to disclose corporate sustainability data through voluntary mechanisms, but due to the existence of some perverse incentive structures, reporting does not fully motivate increased participation and action on corporate sustainability. Positively, CSR rating schemes lead companies to gather and centralize internal data across business units. In addition, external recognition from high CSR scores drives pride in corporate sustainability efforts and draws the attention of executives. However, CSR reporting lacks value for those utilities without end-use customers, does not provide commensurate value for the time required to participate, drives companies to focus primarily on reporting rather than on making substantive changes, and leads to mistrust in the CSR rankings because of the difficulty in understanding scores. Based on these findings, I recommend restructuring CSR rating schemes to provide multiple, issue-based scores to each company; replacing cross-sector assessment with sector-specific assessment; and revising the current assessment approach to include in-depth, on-site valuations of corporate efforts. by Elisabeth Lea Rutledge. S.M. 2015-09-29T19:01:28Z 2015-09-29T19:01:28Z 2015 2015 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/99070 921858003 eng M.I.T. theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from this source for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without written permission. See provided URL for inquiries about permission. http://dspace.mit.edu/handle/1721.1/7582 43 pages application/pdf Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| spellingShingle | Urban Studies and Planning. Rutledge, Elisabeth Lea How do CSR rating schemes influence corporate behavior? : lessons from the utility industry |
| title | How do CSR rating schemes influence corporate behavior? : lessons from the utility industry |
| title_full | How do CSR rating schemes influence corporate behavior? : lessons from the utility industry |
| title_fullStr | How do CSR rating schemes influence corporate behavior? : lessons from the utility industry |
| title_full_unstemmed | How do CSR rating schemes influence corporate behavior? : lessons from the utility industry |
| title_short | How do CSR rating schemes influence corporate behavior? : lessons from the utility industry |
| title_sort | how do csr rating schemes influence corporate behavior lessons from the utility industry |
| topic | Urban Studies and Planning. |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/99070 |
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