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Thomas Lyon

Dow Professor of Sustainable Science, Technology, and Commerce
Sustainable Systems
Climate + Energy
Water
Cities + Mobility + Built Environment
tplyon@umich.edu
(734)-615-1639
Office
6366 Ross (701 Tappan St.)

About

Tom Lyon is the Dow Professor of Sustainable Science, Technology and Commerce. His research and teaching interests include environmental information disclosure and greenwash; corporate environmental strategy; environmental NGOs; voluntary environmental agreements; government regulation of business; industrial organization; and energy and the environment.

 

Publications

  • “A Theory of Multi-Tier Ecolabel Competition,” (with Carolyn Fischer), Journal of the Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, 6, no. 3 (May 2019): 461-501.
  • “Salience Games: Private Politics when Public Attention is Limited,” (with Anthony Heyes and Steve Martin), Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2018, 88: 396-410.
  • “Voluntary Cleanup Programs for Brownfield Sites: A Theoretical Analysis,” (with Allen Blackman, Kris Wernstedt and Haitao Yin), Environmental and Resource Economics, 2018, 70(2): 297-322.
  • “CSR Needs CPR: Corporate Sustainability and Politics,” (with Magali Delmas, John W. Maxwell, Tima Bansal, Mireille Chiroleu-Assouline, Patricia Crifo, Rodolphe Durand, Jean-Pascal Gond, Andrew King, Michael Lenox, Michael Toffel, David Vogel, and Frank Wijen), California Management Review, 2018, 60(4): 5-24.
  • “Optimizing Eco-Efficiency across the Procurement Portfolio,” (with Rylie E.O. Pelton, Mo Li, and Timothy M. Smith), Environmental Science & Technology, 2016, 50(11): 5908-5918.
  • “Greenwash vs. Brownwash: Exaggeration and Undue Modesty in Corporate Sustainability Disclosure,” (with Eun-Hee Kim), Organization Science, 2014, 26: 705-723.
  • “Environmental Disclosure: Evidence from Newsweek’s Green Companies Rankings,” (with Jay P. Shimshack), Business and Society, 2015, 54(5): 632-675.
  • “The Means and End of Greenwash,” (with A. Wren Montgomery), Organization and Environment, 2015, 28(2): 223–249.
  • “Optimizing Eco-Efficiency across the Procurement Portfolio,” (with Rylie E.O. Pelton, Mo Li, and Timothy M. Smith), Environmental Science & Technology, 2016, 50(11): 5908-5918.
  • “The Drivers and Impacts of Renewable Portfolio Standards,” Annual Review of Resource Economics, 2016, 8: 141-155.
  • “Voluntary Cleanup Programs for Brownfield Sites: A Theoretical Analysis,” (with Allen Blackman, Kris Wernstedt and Haitao Yin), Environmental and Resource Economics, forthcoming.
  • “The Millennial `Meh’: Correlated Groups as Collective Agents in the Automobile Field,” (with Montgomery, A. Wren and Kim Wolske) Journal of Management Studies, in press.
  • "Merchants of doubt: Corporate political action when NGO credibility is uncertain." (with Chiroleu‐Assouline and Mireille) Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 2020, 29(2): 439-461. https://doi.org/10.1111/jems.12338.
  • “Introduction to the Special Issue on `Social Movements and Private Environmental Governance’," Organization & Environment, 2020, 33(1):3-6 https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1086026619853783
  • “Understanding the Role of the Corporation in Sustainability Transitions,” (with Delmas, Magali, and John W. Maxwell) Organization & Environment, 2019, 32(2): 87-97. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1086026619848255
  • “Non-profits and the Environment: Using Market Forces for Social Good,” in Walter W. Powell and Patricia Bromley, editors, (with Delmas, Magali, and Sean Jackson) The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook, Stanford University Press, 2020.

Read more publications here.

Research
  • 2016-2017: Sloan Foundation Grant, “What’s Driving Millennial Travel Behavior: An Exploratory Study,” $72,846.
  • 2015-2019: Environmental Protection Agency, “Engineering and Policy Studies of Transportation Impacts on Air Quality,” $1,002,927.
  • 2016: Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation, “Corporate Sustainability 2.0: Leading Systemic Change,” 2016, $35,000.
Education

PhD, Stanford University (engineering, economic systems)

MS, Stanford University (engineering, economic systems)

BS, Princeton University (civil engineering)

In the Media
07/08/2020
Millennials drive for 8% fewer trips than older generations (The Conversation)
07/08/2020
Millennials drive for 8% fewer trips than older generations (The Conversation)
04/01/2019
Why business shouldn’t fear the Green New Deal
02/01/2019
U-M faculty hit Capital hill to testify before congress on issues from infrastructure to solar storms
07/01/2018
When corporations take credit for green deeds their lobbying may tell another story
05/01/2017
A Test for Corporate Sustainability Leadership
Websites
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Erb Institute
Energy Institute
Alliance for Research on Corporate Sustainability
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Ann Arbor, MI 48109
(734) 764-6708
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