Conference Programme

Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges of our time, requiring collaborative action across public and private actors. However, we know little about how (public-private) collaborations can potentially act as stewards of systemic change. We adopt a system perspective to examine how collaborations translate into environmental potential and conduct fixed-effects regression with 1,992 European climate-tech companies (2000-2023), along with several robustness checks to mitigate concerns about endogeneity. We link company and collaboration data with a forward-looking Emission Reduction Potential (ERP) metric, capturing the yearly potential reduction (percentage) in emissions to incumbent baselines. Three main findings emerge: First, system embeddedness through collaboration stock is positively associated with ERP, with effects being stronger in the company's early life. Second, public-private collaboration shows directionally higher ERP, with the strongest associations found in government laboratories and agencies. Third, collaboration stock today predicts additional collaboration partners tomorrow, consistent with reinforcing system dynamics. We contribute to the literature on collaboration and public-private collaborations in the context of grand challenges by reframing collaboration as a dynamic systems strategy and by linking ties to a forward-looking environmental potential. The evidence further informs practitioners seeking to design a collaboration system to accelerate decarbonization and combat climate change.

This study examines how private digital infrastructure can be governed to not only provide competitive benefits for infrastructure owners but also reduce digital inequality in society. Using a longitudinal global sample of firms in the mobile telecommunications industry we study mobile network operators’ decisions to host virtual network operators (MVNOs), and the implications of this strategy for (1) operator-level performance and (2) country-level digital inclusion. We find that MVNO hosting improved mobile operator profitability during competitive pressures, although these performance benefits reduced for state-owned operators and for operators targeting low-end segments. Moreover, we find that MVNO entry substantially lowered nationwide digital inequality, especially in developing countries. These findings provide important insights about how collaboration can align strategic incentives with societal benefits.

This paper examines how cap-and-trade programs influence asset reallocation in the United States power sector. Using the staggered implementation of the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative and California’s Cap-and-Trade Program, I show that electricity producers undertake substantial reallocation of generating assets in response to carbon pricing. Within regulated states, producers with greater exposure to carbon costs divest fossil-fuel plants and expand their holdings of renewable plants. Interestingly, asset allocation decisions are not confined to regulated areas only. Once subject to cap-and-trade, producers significantly reshape their portfolios in unregulated states by shifting toward cleaner assets. Two mechanisms appear to drive this spillover effect. First, producers anticipate policy diffusion to nearby states. Second, carbon pricing spurs innovation that facilitates broader deployment. Overall, the findings demonstrate that regional climate policies can induce widespread asset reallocation that extends well beyond the boundaries of regulated areas.