The PRI Academic Network Conference showcases the latest high-quality, independent evidence and insights in responsible investment practices. The event seeks to bridge the gap between investors and academics, and offers a unique opportunity to engage, learn, and network.

The conference represents an integral part of the PRI’s longstanding support for fostering new research and a community of practice in RI, from which the latest ESG research can inform the investment practices, behaviours and systems.

AGENDA
The 2024 Academic Network Conference, hosted as part of PRI in Person, consisted of 5 sessions as outlined below:

Wednesday, 9 October

09:45 – 11:00	Breakout 1D: Natural Capital Moderator: Lloyd Kurtz (Northwestern University) Academic discussant: Caroline Flammer (Columbia University) Practitioner discussant: Sylvaine Rols (Principles for Responsible Investment) Paper 1: Pricing the Priceless: The Financial Cost of Biodiversity Conservation Authors: Fukang Chen (Renmin University of China) Minhao Chen (Renmin University of China) Lin William Cong (Cornell SC Johnson College of Business) Haoyu Gao (Renmin University of China) Jacopo Ponticelli (Northwestern University, Kellogg School of Management) Paper 2: The Value of Climate Hedge Assets: Evidence from Australian Water Markets              Author: Ryan Lewis (University of Colorado)
11:45 – 13:00	Breakout 2D: New Measures Moderator: Pedro Matos (University of Virginia) Academic discussant: Aaron Yoon (Northwestern University) Practitioner discussant: Athanasia Karananou (RBC Brewin Dolphin) Paper 3: Greenwashing Authors: Qiyang He (University of Sydney Business School) Ben Marshall (Massey University)  Justin Nguyen (Edith Cowan University) Nhut H. Nguyen (Aukland University of Technology) Buhui Qiu (University of Sydney Business School) Nuttawat Visaltanachoti (Massey University) Paper 4: One Hundred and Thirty Years of Corporate Responsibility Authors: Joel F. Houston (University of Florida)  Sehoon Kim (University of Florida)  Boyuan Li (University of Florida)
14:15 – 15:30	Breakout 3D: Investor and Manager Decisions Moderator: Diane-Laure Arjaliès (Ivey Business School) Academic discussant: Adriana Robertson (University of Chicago) Practitioner discussant: Eddy Adra (Coast Funds) Paper 5: Custom Proxy Voting Advice Authors: Edwin Hu (New York University)  Nadya Malenko (Boston College) Jonathon Zytnick (Georgetown University) Paper 6: Environmental Violations, Indigenous and Minority Population Authors: Vishaal Baulkaran (University of Lethbridge)  Carlos Jabbour (University of Lethbridge) Paper 7: Pollution-Shifting vs. Downscaling: How Financial Distress Affects the Green Transition Authors: Aymeric Bellon (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)  Yasser Boualam (University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill)

Thursday, 10 October

09:30 – 10:45

Breakout 4D: Green Commitments Moderator: Yuxia Zou (Nanyang Technological University) Academic discussant: Janet Gao (Georgetown University) Practitioner discussant: Monica Bae (Asia Investor Group on Climate Change) Paper 8: Environmental Disclosure Incentives and Externalities Authors: Leo Liu (University of Technology Sydney) Elvira Sojli (University of New South Wales) Wing Wah Tham (University of New South Wales) Cara Vansteenkiste (University of New South Wales) Paper 9: The Net-Zero Ledger: Accountability and Regulation of Corporate Net-Zero Commitments Author: Nathan de Arriba-Sellier (Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University) Paper 10: Filling the Governance Gap: Corporate Commitments and Environmental Externalities in the African Oil Sector Authors: Samuel Chang (Booth School of Business, University of Chicago)  Hans B. Christensen (Booth School of Business, University of Chicago) Andrew McKinley (Booth School of Business, University of Chicago)

11:30 – 12:45

Breakout 5D: Investment decisions* Moderator: Ayako Yasuda (University of California, Davis) Academic discussant: Alexander Dyck (University of Toronto) Practitioner discussant: Conor Kehoe (Principles for Responsible Investment) Paper 11: Sustainable Investing: Evidence from the Field (Winner of the Best Paper Award) Authors: Alex Edmans (London Business School) Tom Gosling (London Business School) Dirk Jenter (London School of Economics and Political Science) Paper 12: Inattention to the Coming Storm? Rising Seas and Sovereign Credit Risk (Winner of the Best PhD Student Paper Award) Author: Atreya Dey (University of Edinburgh) *Both papers discussed in this session are recipients of the PRI Award for Outstanding Research

Application and Selection Process
The PRI Academic Network Conference programme was selected by the 2024 PRI Academic Network Conference Committee (Laura Starks, Pedro Matos, Ayako Yasuda and Diane-Laure Arjalies).

To ensure the assembly of an inclusive and balanced programme, additional dimensions such as academic disciplines, geographic representation, gender, underrepresented minorities, seniority, topic, and others were considered.