Business & Society Institute Research

Research Advancing Business & Society

We deliver interdisciplinary research exploring the connections between markets and social outcomes that also informs our programs and thought leadership.

Observing Acceleration

Observing Acceleration
Palgrave Macmillan, 2019

Uncovering the Effects of Accelerators on Impact-Oriented Entrepreneurs

Professor Peter Roberts’ book, Observing Acceleration, co-authored by former Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs researcher Saurabh A. Lall (University of Oregon), summarizes five years of learning from data collected as part of the Global Accelerator Learning Initiative which partnered directly with entrepreneur support programs around the world to track and validate program impacts while producing critical sector-wide research. The book serves as a valuable resource for scholars, policymakers, and practitioners interested in the effectiveness of accelerator programs as tools that unleash the full social and economic potential of entrepreneurship

Super Polluters

SP
Columbia University Press, 2020

Tackling the World’s Largest Sites of Climate-Disrupting Emissions

Professor Wes Longhofer’s book, Super Polluters, co-authored by sociologists Don Grant (University of Colorado) and Andrew Jorgenson (Boston College) identifies which fossil-fueled power plants around the world discharge the most carbon. The book points to more feasible and effective emission reduction strategies that target the world’s most profligate polluters demonstrating which energy and climate policies are most effective at abating power-plant pollution, emphasizing how mobilized citizen activism shapes those outcomes.

Select Faculty Research Papers & Projects

Social Enterprise & Impact-Driven Organizations

Working Papers / Projects
  • Entrepreneurial Activity and the College Admissions Process. Wesley Longhofer and Joe Nixon.
  • Accelerators as Filters: Exploring the Ordering Effect of Impact-Oriented Accelerators. Peter Roberts, Li-Wei Chen, Saurabh Lall, and Amisha Miller.

Climate Change & Sustainability

Working Papers / Projects
  • How Policy Affects Power Plants in Age of Experimentalist Governance. Don Grant, Andrew Jorgenson, and Wesley Longhofer.

Inequalities within Organizations, Markets, & Communities

Working Papers / Projects
  • Confronting the Commodification of Specialty Coffee Farmers. Peter Roberts. Under contract with Oxford University Press.
  • Cupping in Context: Establishing Quality-Based Conventions for Pricing Specialty Coffees. Peter Roberts, Seemee Yoon, and Ozgecan Kocak
  • Identifying and Understanding Neighborhood Business Gaps in Majority Black Neighborhoods. Peter Roberts.
  • Women’s Participation in the Post-Liberal Era. Julia Lerch, David Frank, Christine Min Wotipka, Francisco Ramirez, Evan Schofer, Kristopher Velasco, and Wesley Longhofer.

Select Recent Faculty Thought Leadership

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