How to improve and digitalize carbon accounting at the service of a decarbonization strategy? A new business case on carbon accounting by Associate Professor of Accounting and Management Control Hélène Löning and graduate Floriane Desbordes of HEC Paris, co-authored by Jean-Pierre Francisco from Colas company, has been published on the Case Centre platform. This two-part business case intends to stimulate a discussion on the forthcoming regulation on carbon reporting, and discusses the carbon accounting practices of Colas, builder of large infrastructure projects.
Since December 2022 and the arrest of Sam Bankman Fried in 2023, the FTX founder has been at the heart of a scandal rocking the world of cryptocurrencies and the on-chain features that underpins its entire existence. But it is also illustrating the impact of off-chain factors involved in blockchain operations. These off-chain characteristics are forms of communication and coordination that need to happen for the technical activities of the blockchain to function. Recent research by professors Dane Pflueger (Assistant Professor in the accounting department HEC Paris), Martin Kornberger (Vienna University) and Jan Mouritsen (Copenhagen Business School) helps to shed light on the complexities surrounding FTX’s accounting. The academics’ December 2022 publication in the European Accounting Review, explores the issues of governance, organizing, and trust that buttress the blockchain accounting systems. In a long interview from his HEC campus near Paris, Pflueger challenges the notion some have that blockchain technology does not need intermediaries like accountants to function.
By Dane Pflueger
When we think of startups, we think of fresh, ideas-led businesses that seek to break the mold in how they do things or in what they produce. But when it comes to their business practices and values, it seems that, rather than being pioneers of innovation, many startups adhere to very similar ways of doing things: following the Lean Startup philosophy. A recent study from researchers in management accounting and control Sebastian D. Becker of HEC Paris and Christoph Endenich of ESSEC Business School shows why this is the case.
By Sebastian Becker
Around 1,200 participants congregated in Toronto for the first in-person CDL Super Session in four years. The two-day event featured intense exchanges between startups from the 24 CDL streams, mentors, researchers and academics. There were equally hard-hitting exchanges on AI, geopolitical shifts in innovation and the advancement of humanlike intelligence. HEC Paris sent a strong delegation to Canada to exchange on its growing involvement in this objective-based program for massively scalable, seed-stage companies.
Artificial Intelligence has a potentially disruptive impact on organizations, firms, and society at large. The latest mind-boggling illustration came with the discovery of chatGPT’s mesmerizing results in November 2022. This followed a fall of investments in AI last year in Silicon Valley. From analyzing data in one’s business to increasing customer engagement and replacing humans in routine tasks across industries, AI is becoming more relevant to our lives and economy every day. Everyone talks about it, but do we really understand its opportunities and threats? And how can we make the best out of it, whilst ensuring that ethical requirements are met?
ESG, a tool used to quantify sustainability, is exposed to criticism and allegations of greenwashing. In this RESKILL Masterclass session, Hélène Löning, HEC Paris Associate Professor of Accounting , argues that, despite its struggles and flaws, ESG can help make companies more accountable towards all stakeholders and society, not just investors. She shares with viewers detailed insights into ESG metrics. The Masterclass was recorded on June 29, 2023, and is available on YouTube here. You can also find all the questions and comments in the LinkedIn live.
Gender diversity in corporate boards of directors has long been on the agenda, but whether and when investors reward companies that make efforts towards such inclusion remains an open question. Researchers in Accounting Crystal Shi (HEC Paris), April Klein and Mary Brooke Billings (New York University) investigate whether the #MeToo movement had an impact on investors' perceptions of the benefits of having a diverse and inclusive corporate culture, as reflected by the gender makeup of corporate boards.
By Crystal (yanting) Shi
Global credit rating agencies (CRAs) play an important role in economic growth or decline. Generous credit ratings may allow businesses to take on too much debt, at risk of defaulting. Overcautious ratings can hinder their access to finance, stifle investment, slow growth. A study by award-winning HEC Paris researcher Professor Pepa Kraft and collaborators in the U.S. and Hong Kong suggest that CRAs ratings are influenced by their country-level market share.
By Pepa Kraft
As Europe faces postwar records in forced migration from the east and south, ad hoc citizen groups have been sprouting up to ease the hardships of their new homelands. To illustrate this, HEC Assistant Professor David Crevlin publishes a detailed study on the rapid and effective response of German citizens to the unprecedented wave of migrants in 2015. A lesson of integration for all Europe?
By David Twardowski Crvelin
The methods and aims of activist short sellers and financial analysts are often at odds. In a highly competitive environment, there is a battle for narrative authority, with short sellers often criticizing analysts. New research examines this struggle, and how — or if — analysts respond to challenges.
By Hervé Stolowy , Luc Paugam
