On October 25, invited by the Faculty of Business and Management (FBM), Prof. Hugo Lam delivered a distinguished lecture entitled "Mandatory Carbon Reporting and Firm Operational Efficiency: Empirical Evidence from the UK ". This is part of FBM’s Reading Week activities. Prof. Steve WB Liu, Dean of FBM gave a welcome speech before Prof. Lam’s lecture.

Prof. Steve WB Liu, Dean of FBM gave a welcome speech

Prof. Hugo Lam is Chair in Operations Management at the University of Liverpool Management School. He obtained his PhD in Operations Management from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. Prof. Lam’s research focuses on operational implications of emerging technology adoption and sustainable supply chain management, with relevant papers published or forthcoming in Journal of Operations Management (ABS4*; FT50; UTD24), Production and Operations Management (ABS4; FT50; UTD24), and International Journal of Operations & Production Management (ABS4), among others. He is serving as an Associate Editor for International Journal of Operations & Production Management (ABS4).

The featured research focuses on the currently implicit relationship between mandatory carbon reporting and the operational efficiency of companies, empirically analysing for UK companies. Prof. Lam firstly introduced the novelty of the research. Carbon reporting is appreciated by identifying innovative chances and operation inefficiencies but is discouraged as it requires additional labour and resources. Hence, effectiveness of mandatory carbon reporting is studied in the UK market with more than 10 years of carbon reporting history that used to be voluntary. Applying a DID (Differences-in-Differences) model for 487 UK companies, the influences of policy change for mandatory carbon reporting on company operational efficiency are observed. It found that mandatory reporting would be positively effective for companies with voluntary reporting history, in carbon-intensive industries, or have foreign branches.

The Audiences

The audience interacted with Prof. Lam and expressed appreciation to him for his inspiring lecture.