Economics: Research Guide

A recent study explored the relationship between corporate climate change mitigation actions and the cost of capital for 2,100 Japanese listed companies from 2017 to 2021. The findings reveal that companies that maintain lower carbon intensity and disclose more climate-related information can reduce their capital costs. Conversely, mere commitments to climate change without actionable measures do not significantly impact costs.

Researchers have uncovered significant flaws in current climate risk assessment techniques that could lead to a severe underestimation of climate-related financial losses for businesses and investors.

Taxing certain antibiotics could help efforts to tackle the escalating threat of antibiotic resistance in humans, according to a new study.

Rising health care prices in the U.S. are leading employers outside the health care sector to reduce their payroll and decrease their number of employees, according to a new study. The study found that when health care prices increased, non-health care employers responded by reducing their payroll and cutting the jobs of middle-class workers. For the average county, a 1% increase in health care prices would reduce aggregate income in the area by approximately $8 million annually.

Protected areas, like nature reserves, can conserve biodiversity without harming local economic growth, countering a common belief that conservation restricts development. A new study outlines what is needed for conservation to benefit both nature and people.

While farmer surveys suggest that carbon prices are still too low relative to the paperwork these programs demand, a new study finds that money alone does not explain either farmers' doubts about carbon markets or their interest in regenerative agriculture. Instead, many farmers view improving soil health as a way to improve their quality of life by reducing their dependence on agrochemical companies' products and advice.

Synthetically generated population data can reveal the equity impacts of distributing transportation resources and funding across diverse regions, according to new research.

An analysis of reviews of translational biomedical research reveals that just 5% of therapies tested in animals reach regulatory approval for human use. The umbrella review summarizes other systematic reviews and provides high level evidence that while the rate of translation to human studies is 50%, there is steep drop off before final approval.

Thirty-by-thirty: protect 30% of the planet by 2030. While conservation is popular in principle, the costs of actually enacting it often stall even the most earnest efforts. Researchers have now proposed a market-based approach to achieving the 30x30 targets in the ocean.

In the largest study yet of working-from-home professionals, economists reveal that employees who work from home two days a week are just as productive, likely to get promoted, and far less prone to quit.

The politicization of climate issues and the unsynchronized efforts of stakeholders are hindering the effectiveness of climate adaptation governance in the U.S. According to a new study the design characteristics of quasi-governmental organizations (QGOs) could provide insights on how to depoliticize climate information sources and foster multi-level stakeholder coordination.

Giving a regular cash payment to the entire world population has the potential to increase global gross domestic product (GDP) by 130%, according to a new analysis. Researchers suggest that charging carbon emitters with an emission tax could help fund such basic income program while reducing environmental degradation.

Scientists show a new way of thinking about the fair impacts of AI decisions. They draw on a well-established tradition known as social welfare optimization, which aims to make decisions fairer by focusing on the overall benefits and harms to individuals. This method can be used to evaluate the industry standard assessment tools for AI fairness, which look at approval rates across protected groups.

New research has found a connection between pleasant weather conditions and higher investment in lottery-like stocks.

City officials were more likely to maintain climate action during the pandemic in places with more climate-related health issues affecting residents.

Economic difficulty caused by the COVID-19 pandemic led to a cascade of connected problems for some parents -- resulting in mental health problems for their children, a new study suggests. Researchers found that economic insecurity was linked to higher levels of depressive symptoms for parents, which was then associated with poorer relationship quality for the couples. That was linked with more harsh parenting and then to increased internalizing behaviors for their children.

Short but severe episodes of flooding from hurricanes in Texas and Florida triggered a nationwide increase in flood insurance sign-ups depending on how socially connected a county was to the flooded counties.

Recognizing and respecting the different ways nature is valued can enable better environmental decision-making, according to new research.

PES programs are currently structured in ways that could limit their participation or create incentives to drop out before the full environmental benefits are realized.

Coal phase-out is necessary to solve climate change, but can have negative impacts on workers and local communities dependent on coal for their livelihoods. Researchers have studied government plans for coal phase-out around the world and discovered that more than half of such plans include monetary compensation to affected parties. This planned compensation globally amounts to USD 200 billion, but it excludes China and India, the two largest users of coal that currently do not have phase-out plans. The study shows that if China and India decide to phase out coal as fast as needed to reach the Paris climate targets and pay similar compensation, it would cost upwards of USD 2 trillion.

Researchers undertook a study of older adults to examine the connection between a sense of economic insecurity and a person's participation in social activities.

Genetics can be associated with one's behavior and health -- from the willingness to take risks, and how long one stays in school, to chances of developing Alzheimer's disease and breast cancer. Although our fate is surely not written in our genes, corporations may still find genetic data valuable for risk assessment and business profits, according to a perspective article. The researchers stress the need for policy safeguards to address ethics and policy concerns regarding collecting genetic data.

Reaching net-zero carbon emissions goals requires finding transformative paths to manage carbon in difficult-to-electrify economic sectors.

Countries with limited potential for renewables could save up to 20 percent of costs for green steel and up to 40 percent for green chemicals from green hydrogen if they relocated their energy-intensive production and would import from countries where renewable energy is cheaper.

A new study highlights the lasting financial impact of a cancer diagnosis for many working-age adults and their families in the United States. It shows a cancer diagnosis and the time required for its treatment can result in employment disruptions, loss of household income and loss of employment-based health insurance coverage, leading to financial hardship.

Climate change will increase the future value of residential rooftop solar panels across the United States by up to 19% by the end of the century, according to a new study.

Even if CO2 emissions were to be drastically cut down starting today, the world economy is already committed to an income reduction of 19% until 2050 due to climate change, a new study finds. These damages are six times larger than the mitigation costs needed to limit global warming to two degrees. Based on empirical data from more than 1,600 regions worldwide over the past 40 years, scientists assessed future impacts of changing climatic conditions on economic growth and their persistence.

Pioneering study reveals that limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius could reduce the global economic costs of climate change by two thirds. If warming continues to 3 degrees Celsius, global GDP will decrease by up to 10 percent -- with the worst impacts in less developed countries.

Childhood verbal abuse by adults costs society an estimated $300 billion a year globally, show recent findings.

Are we missing the forest for the trees? More than timber grows in forests -- including products worth many tens of billions of dollars. Because these goods go unrecorded in official trade statistics, their economic value escapes our attention. As a result, clear opportunities to combat poverty are being missed, according to an economist.