Professor Anant Sudarshan wins UC Berkeley Haas Sustainable Business Research Prize

Professor Anant Sudarshan wins UC Berkeley Haas Sustainable Business Research Prize

Professor Anant Sudarshan and his co-authors Michael Greenstone (University of Chicago) Rohini Pande and Nicholas Ryan (both Yale University) have been awarded the 2025-26 UC Berkeley Haas Sustainable Business Research Prize for their work designing and evaluating the world's first cap-and-trade market for particulate matter, in partnership with authorities in Gujarat.

The researchers were awarded $10,000 for “Can Pollution Markets Work in Developing Countries? Experimental Evidence from India,” the top prize from the award’s total $20,000 pool. Their paper evaluates a randomized controlled trial conducted in partnership with the Gujarat Pollution Control Board that tested a cap-and-trade system for particulate matter emissions in Surat, India.

Their evaluation found that the emissions market reduced pollution by 20% to 30% while lowering abatement costs by 11%, providing rare experimental evidence that market-based environmental regulation can succeed even in low- and middle-income countries with constrained regulatory capacity.

The biannual UC Berkeley Haas Sustainable Business Research Prize was created to bridge the gap between academia and practice by recognizing research that offers promising, real-world solutions for advancing sustainable business. Anant's winning paper was selected from a competitive field of 100 paper nominations from around the world and judged by two committees to ensure both academic rigor and real-world relevance.

Professor Jonathan Weigel, an award-winning political economist, served on the Academic Selection Committee. He said: “This paper stands out for its combination of rigorous experimental design and engagement in real-world policy implementation.

“It provides rare experimental evidence that emissions markets can reduce pollution while lowering costs, even in contexts where such approaches are often assumed to be infeasible.”

• Read the paper in full: https://academic.oup.com/qje/article/140/2/1003/8002857
• Pollution solution co-developed by Professor Anant Sudarshan reaches finals of 2025 Earthshot Prize
• World’s first particulate pollution market reduced pollution, cut costs of abatement and improved compliance with legal standards