PhD Studentship: The impact of climate change reporting on corporate structures

A variety of financial reporting initiatives require corporations to disclose their environmental impact in order to inform stakeholders or progress towards key sustainability goals. However, many corporations also operate within a financialized corporate governance framework that rewards executives who increase distributions to shareholders. On the basis that net zero commitments incur costs which may limit the capacity of corporations to pay dividends or buy back shares, corporations may reorganise their corporate form and adopt creative reporting practices to avoid reporting the emissions they produce.

This interdisciplinary project at the intersect of political economy, accounting and economic geography will explore the relationship between environmental reporting, corporate reorganisation and the use of secrecy jurisdictions in a context of financialization. It would potentially include an exploration of ’emissions avoidance’ – the use of complex corporate structures and secrecy jurisdictions, aided by the Big Four advisory services, as a facilitator of this process.

This is a fully funded 3.5 year studentship covering Home or International tuition fees, and a stipend at the basic UKRI rate (£17,668 for 2022/23). A research and training support grant of £2,250 in total is available to support research costs during the successful applicants’ PhD periods. The project will be supervised by Professor Richard Murphy and Professor Adam Leaver.

The start date is 01 February 2023.