Publications Database

Welcome to the new Schulich Peer-Reviewed Publication Database!

The database is currently in beta-testing and will be updated with more features as time goes on. In the meantime, stakeholders are free to explore our faculty’s numerous works. The left-hand panel affords the ability to search by the following:

  • Faculty Member’s Name;
  • Area of Expertise;
  • Whether the Publication is Open-Access (free for public download);
  • Journal Name; and
  • Date Range.

At present, the database covers publications from 2012 to 2020, but will extend further back in the future. In addition to listing publications, the database includes two types of impact metrics: Altmetrics and Plum. The database will be updated annually with most recent publications from our faculty.

If you have any questions or input, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

 

Search Results

Michelle Benson, Chao Guo, Daniel G. Neely, and Gregory D. Saxton (2025). "Dirty Air, Empty Coffers? Nonprofit Donations and Volunteering in the Context of Severe Air Pollution", Journal of Public Budgeting, Accounting & Financial Management, 37(6), 324–353.

Open Access Download

Abstract
Purpose
Poor environmental conditions pose profound societal challenges, yet their impact on the nonprofit sector, particularly in terms of financial and organizational sustainability, remains largely unexplored. To address this concern, we investigate how hazardous air quality influences donations and volunteering in nonprofit organizations.
Design/methodology/approach
Combining county-level US EPA air quality data with 1.63 million IRS Form 990 filings by 248,749 nonprofits between 2010 and 2022, we examine the impact of air pollution on organizations across time and space. Instrumental variables regression and entropy-balancing techniques are employed to address potential endogeneity concerns. Additional analyses examine the roles of industry sub-sector, service orientation, donor sophistication and government funding in conditioning the relationship between air pollution and our two outcome variables.
Findings
Organizations in areas experiencing more hazardous air quality days are associated with lower levels of donations but higher levels of volunteering. Additional cross-sectional analyses suggest that environmental, health and human service nonprofits experience increased donations in the context of severe air pollution while arts and mutual benefit organizations see increased volunteering. Additional analyses on the conditioning effects of donor sophistication, service orientation, and government funding provide further insights into the empirical relationship between air pollution and nonprofit engagement.
Originality/value
This study provides one of the first large-N examinations of the organizational impact of localized environmental factors on charitable activity. In providing evidence for how air quality appears to be a robust, but underexplored factor affecting donor and volunteer behavior, our study underscores the importance of understanding how environmental challenges influence civic engagement.

Pouyan Foroughi, Alan Marcus, Vinh Nguyen (2024). "Mutual Fund Pollution Experience and Environmental Voting", Journal of Banking & Finance, 162, 107149.

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Abstract We study the relationship between mutual fund management's direct experience with extreme environment events and the fund's voting behavior on environmental issues. We find that higher air pollution in a fund's home county increases its propensity to vote in support of shareholders' environmental proposals. The effect is weakened by fund manager turnovers, and managers' affiliation with the Republican Party. Conversely, the effect is stronger for more highly contested environmental proposals. Overall, our results suggest that mutual fund management's direct experience with extreme environment events plays a significant role in motivating the fund's environmental engagements.

Cho, C.H., Huang, Z., Liu, S. and Yang, D. (2022). "Contaminated Heart: Does Air Pollution Harm Business Ethics? Evidence from Earnings Manipulation", Journal of Business Ethics, 177, 151–172.

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Abstract We investigate whether air pollution harms business ethics from the perspective of earnings manipulation, which exerts a real effect on the economy and social welfare. Using a large sample and a comprehensive air quality index in China, we find that firms located in cities with more severe air pollution exhibit higher levels of discretionary accruals and are more likely to restate their financial statements, consistent with exposure to air pollution leading to more earnings manipulation. We further provide causal evidence using propensity score matching and a discontinuity regression design (RDD) exploiting the Qinling Mountain–Huai River Heating Policy Line, which exogenously leads to more air pollution to cities located immediately north of the Line but not those in the south. Our findings are robust to controlling for weather conditions and alternative samples and measures of air pollution and earnings manipulation. Overall, this study unveils how the ecological environment shapes business ethics.