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Distinguished Professor John G. Lynch Jr. leads the new Initiative for Global Business Impact and Citizen Well-Being. Here, he describes how Leeds is driving research with a social impact, initially focusing on sustainability and consumer financial decision making.

Why this initiative? Why now?
Data from the 2024 Edelman Trust Barometer—a survey of 32,000 respondents across 28 countries—revealed that people trust business more than government, NGOs or the media to solve large-scale global problems. Meanwhile, employers are seeking professionals who not only drive operational success but also champion purpose-driven goals that prioritize social impact.

How can business research fit in with this mission?
Far too often, public policy decisions rely only on common sense—which, as author Duncan Watts argued in his book Everything Is Obvious—can be misleading. Business school research helps separate the wheat from the chaff, identifying what solutions truly work to guide the right decisions.

For example, countries around the world differ in their laws around mortgage borrowing and repayment. In the United States, we have fully amortizing mortgages, but that wasn’t true in the Netherlands until 2013 when its law changed. Leeds finance professor Asaf Bernstein and a colleague studied the effect of this. The new law required bigger monthly payments to pay off a loan over its term. Surprisingly, for every extra dollar paid for mortgages, household wealth increased by a dollar. Common sense likely would have dictated the reverse, but research demonstrated that fully amortized mortgages proved to be a stunningly effective tool for everyday citizens to build wealth.

How do cross-national comparisons provide key insights?
There’s enormous value in examining how different countries approach the same problems—whether it’s college graduation rates, retirement security or home ownership. For example, why does the Netherlands have twice the four-year graduation rate as flagship U.S. universities? How did Australia go from a mediocre retirement system to one of the best in the world?

What are the benefits of externally focused research centers that bridge academia and industry?
Efforts such as Cornell’s Center for Sustainable Global Enterprise and Duke’s Teradata Center for Customer Relationship Management bridge academia, business and policy. These are engines for innovation, and we want Leeds to stand alongside them. This work can open doors for corporate and government contacts and allow Leeds to fundraise for large-scale projects.

Why begin the new initiative by prioritizing consumer finance and sustainability?
These are two of the most urgent and globally resonant issues today. From climate change to financial insecurity, the challenges are complex, but we believe there’s promise for solutions realized through interdisciplinary research.

When Leeds founded the Center for Research on Consumer Financial Decision Making in 2010, the school was No. 74 in the University of Texas at Dallas rankings. Since then, Leeds has risen to No. 31. We are now in a position to collaborate with a network of global scholars.

What are the first steps?
Leeds will meet with experts to broadly shape the initiative, including recruiting two postdoctoral scholars—one in sustainability and one in consumer finance—who will support faculty-led projects. Beginning this fall, we will allocate $80,000 annually to research grants on these topics. We plan to build alliances in global regions as we expand our reach.

This seed investment is just the start. By creating the infrastructure, we will unlock greater resources to elevate Leeds as a leader in advancing knowledge that truly improves lives.