Research

Working papers

[1]  Ghosh S, Singh J (2025). Eliciting Supplier Cooperation for Value Chain Decarbonization: A Field Experiment with Smallholder Farmers in India.

  • Job Market Paper, revise and resubmit Management Science
  • Nominated for SMS Annual Conference (2023) Best Responsible Research Paper Prize & PhD Paper Prize Competition.

Abstract: Firms are under pressure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions not only from their own operations but across the entire value chain. However, this requires supplier adoption of climate-friendly practices, which can be difficult when suppliers perceive such practices as risky or detrimental to their economic well-being. We employ a field experiment to study strategies for engaging suppliers to overcome this challenge. In a research collaboration with a Fortune 500 firm seeking to decarbonize its agricultural supply chain, we examine the effectiveness of complementing its training on climate-friendly practices for its supplier farmers with customized agricultural support that created immediate and visible value for these farmers. We tested two interventions that differed in the nature and extent of this support: a lower investment intervention in which existing field officers provided customized advice on the crop the farmers produced for the firm, and a higher investment intervention in which expert agronomists were additionally brought in to provide customized advice for a broader range of agricultural matters. Relative to a control group that was simply exposed to training about the new practices, both interventions improved the farmers’ adoption of the new practices. The higher investment intervention produced greater environmental impact, even for emissions reduction per dollar, while also improving farmer retention in the program. Our post-experiment survey data analysis and field interviews suggest that these treatment effects were driven at least in part by the farmers’ perceptions of how committed the firm was to their economic well-being and to forging a long-term relationship.

[2] Ghosh S, Sevcenko V, Singh J (2025). Interdependent Agendas in Sustainability: Analyzing the Trade-offs in Firm Decarbonization and Workforce Diversity.

Image source: FT, 2023

Abstract: Environmental sustainability and workforce gender diversity represent two critical societal priorities increasingly prominent in corporate agendas. However, corporate sustainability research provides limited insight into potential interactions between sustainability dimensions, often implicitly assuming independence across them. We document how efforts to advance decarbonization through green jobs creation are associated with lower female representation in these positions. Using detailed online job profile data from over 16 million positions across 713 U.S. Fortune 1000 firms (2011-2022), we identify geographic concentration as a key mechanism driving this trade-off. Green jobs tend to cluster in specific locations, creating barriers for women who face documented mobility constraints stemming from family responsibilities and commuting preferences. We find that green jobs in metropolitan areas and those with greater remote work flexibility show significantly smaller gender gaps. These findings challenge the assumption that sustainability dimensions can be pursued independently, highlighting how structural factors embedded in broader systems create interdependencies between environmental and social objectives. We contribute to emerging literature on sustainability trade-offs by demonstrating how organizational design choices can help firms better manage competing priorities and advance multiple sustainability goals simultaneously.

[3]  Ghosh S, Kivleniece I (2025). It Takes a Village to…: Firms, Collectives and Firm-Community Governance Forms for Addressing Grand Challenges.

Research in Progress

  • Scaling-up Programs for Firm Value Chain Decarbonization: The Relative Effectiveness of Digital Interventions and Peer-to-Peer Learning. [with Arzi Adbi (NUS) and Jasjit Singh (INSEAD)].
  • Evaluating the Role of Digital Tools in Scaling-up Women Owned Micro-entrepreneurial Ventures in Rural India. [with Leena Kinger Hans (ISB) and Jasjit Singh (INSEAD)].

Image source: www.agritalent.com

  • The Role of Technology Interventions in Driving Sustainability in Agricultural Value Chain. [with Rupali Kaul (INSEAD)].