Younsung Kim

Younsung Kim

Younsung Kim

Professor

Environmental governance, climate change policy, corporate environmentalism and public policy, public policy analysis and evaluation

Dr. Younsung Kim's research lies in collaborative governance and self-regulatory policy tools designed to address today’s complex environmental and sustainability challenges. Focusing on the private sector’s role in environmental governance, she has investigated such topics as whether Environmental Management Systems (EMSs) are effective, why some companies are more receptive to regulatory environmental policy, and which type of firms would be most likely to form cross-sector partnerships for sustainability solutions. Her recent research interests cover sustainable packages and waste management and recycling policy.

In 2016, her co-authored research article “Business as a Collaborative Partner: Understanding Firms’ Sociopolitical Support for Policy Formation” received the Best Article Award from the Public and Nonprofit Management Division of the Academy of Management.

Prior to her career in academia, Dr. Kim worked for the Ministry of Environment in South Korea as Deputy Director of the Public Information Office and also served on the World Bank’s Carbon Finance Assist Team. Recently, she served as an external reviewer of the US EPA’s Pathfinder Innovation Projects, as well as the Korean Institute of Public Finance’s the Korean Particulate Pollution Control Policy Analysis. 

Current Research

  • Environmental Management Systems and Voluntary Governance
  • Collaborative Environmental Governance
  • Climate and Renewable Energy Policy
  • Public and Private Partnerships for Sustainability
  • Sustainable Innovation and Packages
  • Education for Sustainability

Selected Publications

Kim, Younsung, 2022. Change Management and Nike’s Sustainable Product Innovation. In Routledge Companion to Leadership and Change (In-Press), Routledge.  

Kim, Younsung, and Larisa A. Olesova. 2022. Expanding Online Professional Learning in the Post-COVID Era: The Potential of the Universal Design for Learning Framework, Journal of Applied Instruction Design, 11(2).  https://dx.doi.org/10.51869/112/yklo

Kim, Younsung, 2022. Foundational Readings in Environmental Policy, San Diego, CA: Cognella Publishing.

Kim, Younsung 2022. Integrated market and nonmarket strategies: Empirical evidence from the S&P 500 firms’ climate strategies. Business and Politics, 1-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/bap.2021.18.

Kim, Younsung, and Daniel Ruedy, 2019. Mushroom Packages: An Ecovative Design Approach in Packaging Industry. In Handbook of Engaged Sustainability, Edited by Satinder Dhiman and Joan Marques, Spring Nature Publishing.

Kim, Younsung., and Kyoo-Won Oh, 2018. Public and Private Partnerships for Enhanced Energy Access in Developing Countries: A Case of the Solar Rooftop Project in Gujarat, India. In: Handbook on PPPs in Developing and Emerging Economies, Edited by João Leitão, Elsa Morais Sarmento and João Aleluia, Emerald Group Publishing.

Kim, Younsung. 2018. Korea Firms’ Sustainability Practices and Their Role in the Green Economy. On Korea, Vol 11: 115-131. Washington D.C.: Korea Economic Institute of America.

Kim, Younsung and Nicole Darnall. 2016. Business-government collaboration may help solve complex social issues. LSE Business Review.

Kim, Younsung, and Nicole Darnall. 2016, Business as a Collaborative Partner: Understanding Firms’ Sociopolitical Support for Policy Formation. Public Administration Review, 76(2):326-337.

Darnall, Nicole, and Younsung Kim. 2012. Which Types of EMSs are Associated with Greater Environmental Improvements? Public Administration Review, 72(3):351-365.  

Courses Taught

  • EVPP 337 Environmental Policymaking in Developing Countries (coordinator)
  • EVPP 361 Introduction to Environmental Policy
  • EVPP 362 Intermediate Environmental Policy
  • EVPP 638 Corporate Environmental Management and Policy
  • EVPP 642 Environmental Policy

Education

PhD, George Mason University

MS, Seoul National University