Download or read book Revisiting the Relation Between Environmental Performance and Environmental Disclosure written by Yue Li and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Previous empirical evidence provided mixed results on the relationship between corporate environmental performance and environmental disclosures. We revisit this relation by testing economics based theories of voluntary disclosure using a more rigorous research design. In particular, we improve on the prior literature by focusing on purely voluntary environmental disclosures and by developing two reliable environmental performance measures using actual toxic emissions and waste management data. We also develop a content analysis index based on the Global Reporting Initiative sustainability reporting guidelines to assess the extent of discretionary disclosures in environmental and social responsibility reports. This index better captures firm disclosures related to its commitment to protect the environment than the indices employed by prior studies. Using a sample of 191 firms from the five most polluting industries in the U.S., we find a positive association between environmental performance and the extent of discretionary environmental disclosures. The result is consistent with the predictions of the economics based voluntary disclosure theory.

Download or read book Sustainability Environmental Performance and Disclosures written by Marty Freedman and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2010-01-13 with total page 194 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes the papers that discuss different aspects of sustainability, environmental performance, and environmental disclosures. This title analyzes what firms do about environmental issues and how these activities and their impact on the environment are disclosed in the financial statements.

Download or read book The Relationship Between Environmental Performance and Environmental Disclosure written by Aries Widiarto Sutantoputra and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The link between environmental performance and environmental disclosure is not clear, and previous studies in the U.S. and Canada have found mixed relationships. This studyresearched the disclosure behaviour of 53 Australian listed companies. Quantitative andqualitative research approaches were employed to provide explanations of the relationship between environmental performance and disclosure as the disclosure of environmental information still remains largely voluntary in Australia. Firms have the discretion to disclose additional information, which also gives them flexibility to determine the breadth and depth of their environmental reporting in the non-regulated sections of their annual report, and in other mediums such as environmental reports, sustainability reports and their websites. The quantitative relationship between environmental performance and disclosure was examined first, followed by interviews with company representatives and a review of each company's publicly available documents relating to environmental performance and disclosure. The findings from the quantitative component of the study revealed that environmentalperformance, measured by emissions divided by sales and Corporate Monitor environmental ratings, has no statistically significant association with environmental disclosure. In addition, the study also found that levels of environmental disclosure were generally low, and there was greater reliance on the use of soft or un-verifiable types of environmental disclosure than on hard or verifiable information. However, industry classifications, company size and capital intensity were found to affect the level of environmental disclosure. Firms may disclose environmental information if they belong to high polluting industries, are large and have outlayed considerable capital expenditure, as has been suggested by voluntary disclosure theory. However, disclosing firms were not found to receive perceived financial benefits such as lower cost of capital (equity), increased share price, better future financial performance, or lower cost of debts. This may suggest either that the financial market in Australia does not value environmental information in the same way that it values financial information, or that firms do not receive significant pressure from the financial market to disclose. Environmentaldisclosure may thus be limited as firms see the perceived costs as higher than the perceived financial benefits. Further, the findings from the qualitative study highlighted the different drivers of environmental disclosure across four groups, based on perceptual mapping of environmental performance and environmental disclosure. The study found that the high level of environmental disclosure for Greenwashing (poor performance and high disclosure) and Green Companies (good performance and high disclosure) was influenced by the demand of financial markets. In addition, for Green Companies, customers appear to have also demanded more transparency over firms' environmental practices. The low level of environmental disclosure for the Silent Con-panies (poorperformance and low disclosure) and Silent Achiever (good performance and low disclosure) groups may have been caused by low demand from their stakeholder base. Stakeholder theory is able to explain the environmental disclosure phenomena in Australia where firms tend to react to stakeholder groups' demands for environmental information. Disclosure can then be seen as a function of stakeholders' demands or pressures, and in the absence of such demand firms may disclose little or stay silent. This may suggest that they use disclosure practices as a public relations tool to satisfy stakeholder needs for information. The low level of environmental disclosure across the sample companies shows that Australian businesses do not appear to believe there is a strong business case to disclose environmental information. The study also revealed that the previous, largely voluntary, requirements for environmental disclosure enabled Australian businesses to disclose environmental information selectively, and this may not necessarily reflect their actual environmental performance. As a consequence, the users of these firms" environmental information may need to interpret the information carefully. The findings of this study also suggest regulators should avoid using a "one size fits all" approach. By understanding the drivers of disclosure, regulators can design regulations which cover all possible behaviours within the environmental performance and environmental disclosure relationship. Regulators may also need to endorse the development of an environmental reporting standard and mandatory audited environmental disclosure for Australian listed firms.

Download or read book Environmental Regulation and Compulsory Public Disclosure written by Shakeb Afsah and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 151 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is a remarkable case study of an environmental policy initiative for a national environmental regulatory system in the information age. In 1995 the Indonesian Ministry of Environment took the bold step to launch an environmental disclosure initiative called the Program for Pollution Control, Evaluation and Rating (PROPER). Under PROPER, environmental performance of companies is mapped into a five-color grading scale - Gold for excellent, Green for very good, Blue for good, Red for non-compliance, and Black for causing environmental damage. These ratings are then publicly disclosed through a formal press conference and posted on the internet. Not only did this simple rating scheme create a major media buzz and enhanced environmental awareness of the general public, but it also unleashed a wide range of performance incentives that showed how markets with environmental information could function in a developing country setting. The authors provide a multidisciplinary analysis of how the PROPER program harnessed the power of public disclosure to abate the problem of industrial pollution. They describe how the program has successfully improved the average environmental compliance rate from close to thrity per cent in 1995 to as high as seventy per cent in 2011. This improvement was driven primarily by information disclosure, which avoided expensive and unpredictable legal enforcement through the court system of Indonesia. The combination of institutional history and detailed economic and analyses sheds light on the role of policy entrepreneurs who laid the foundation for disclosure and transparency, despite the constraints of the Suharto regime. The PROPER program is now internationally recognized and continues to serve as a model for many developing countries.

Download or read book Responsible Business in a Changing World written by Belén Díaz Díaz and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2020-05-11 with total page 397 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book explores the current state of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) from an international perspective, the goal being to share ideas and visions for a sustainable future and to provide useful guidelines for academics, practitioners and policymakers in the context of the 2030 “Agenda for Sustainable Development” released by the United Nations. Research on CSR has evolved considerably over the last three decades. However, there are still many unanswered questions concerning the sustainability of business in an increasingly changing world, for example: If most companies consider CSR to be valuable to their organizations, why do only 15% of them systematically implement Social Responsibility initiatives? If CSR has been found to be profitable for companies, why are they so reluctant to develop an active, internal CSR policy? Why are there such significant differences in CSR adoption from country to country? Why does it take a huge crisis to make politicians react and regulate certain core CSR issues? This contributed volume answers these questions, presenting a wealth of case studies and new approaches in the process.

Download or read book Rationality Legitimacy Responsibility written by Edwin M. Epstein and published by . This book was released on 1978 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Social and Environmental Disclosure by Chinese Firms written by Yingjun Lu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-03-26 with total page 253 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given the increased social and environmental problems in China, this book looks into the social and environmental (environmental) disclosure practices of socially responsible Chinese listed firms by constructing a stakeholder-driven, three-dimensional, disclosure index. The book contains a three-part study: the first part explores the current status of social and environment disclosure practices. The second part empirically examines the relationship between corporate social and environmental disclosure and various influencing factors (i.e. stakeholders’ power and corporate characteristics). The third part empirically examines the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting (i.e. publishing a CSR report and the quality of the CSR report) and socially responsible reputation. The book finds that the CSR report provided more stakeholder-relevant social and environmental disclosure than the annual report. It also finds that corporate characteristics such as firm size, profitability and industry classification are all statistically significant factors influencing social and environmental disclosure of the Chinese firms studied. Shareholders significantly influenced firms’ social and environmental disclosure, and creditors significantly influenced firms’ disclosure related to their environmental performance. The final part of the study reports that publishing a CSR report and CSR reporting quality had a positive influence on firms’ socially responsible reputation and that the CEO/chairman duality negatively influenced firms’ socially responsible reputation. The book also highlights that financial performance and firm size were the two corporate characteristics that had a positive influence on corporate socially responsible reputation. This book will be of interest to those who are keen to learn more about corporate social responsibilities in the context of Chinese firms.

Download or read book Social and Environmental Disclosure by Chinese Firms written by Yingjun Lu and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-03-26 with total page 248 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Given the increased social and environmental problems in China, this book looks into the social and environmental (environmental) disclosure practices of socially responsible Chinese listed firms by constructing a stakeholder-driven, three-dimensional, disclosure index. The book contains a three-part study: the first part explores the current status of social and environment disclosure practices. The second part empirically examines the relationship between corporate social and environmental disclosure and various influencing factors (i.e. stakeholders’ power and corporate characteristics). The third part empirically examines the link between corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting (i.e. publishing a CSR report and the quality of the CSR report) and socially responsible reputation. The book finds that the CSR report provided more stakeholder-relevant social and environmental disclosure than the annual report. It also finds that corporate characteristics such as firm size, profitability and industry classification are all statistically significant factors influencing social and environmental disclosure of the Chinese firms studied. Shareholders significantly influenced firms’ social and environmental disclosure, and creditors significantly influenced firms’ disclosure related to their environmental performance. The final part of the study reports that publishing a CSR report and CSR reporting quality had a positive influence on firms’ socially responsible reputation and that the CEO/chairman duality negatively influenced firms’ socially responsible reputation. The book also highlights that financial performance and firm size were the two corporate characteristics that had a positive influence on corporate socially responsible reputation. This book will be of interest to those who are keen to learn more about corporate social responsibilities in the context of Chinese firms.

Download or read book Environmental Disclosure Environmental Performance and Firm Characteristics written by Adam J. Sulkowski and published by . This book was released on 2014 with total page 3 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental protection and sustainable development have become an important issue in today's global economy. However, there are only limited requirements for environmental disclosure for publicly-held firms in the United States. This study first measures the environmental disclosure of S&P 100 firms based on keyword frequency count of their 10k reports from 2004 to 2008. It also examines the relationships between environmental disclosure, firm performance and firm characteristics. Our results indicate that environmental disclosure actually has a significant negative impact on firm performance after controlling for firm size, growth and leverage. The results imply that more environmental disclosure may indicate potential environmental problems within the firm and that this may hamper the firm's financial performance. We also find that better-performing firms and highly-leveraged firms tend to have lower environmental disclosures. It implies that these firms may have better compliance with environmental laws and regulations.

Download or read book Environmental Disclosure Practices and Financial Performance written by Khondkar Karim and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2004-10-30 with total page 146 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Understanding environmental liability and disclosure is critical for firm management, investors, accountants and auditors. The U.S. Congress has been increasing the pressure on companies to disclose information on environmental liabilities for years. This study delves into the issue by examining the impact of environmental disclosure on financial performance. These insightful essays provide guidance by supplying the most current and concise research available on this important topic. Covering such topics as legislation, liability, and regulations, this work analyzes how environmental disclosure influences the financial statements and public accountability of companies, and ultimately drives organizational change. This book builds the framework necessary to comprehend the complexities of quantifying environmental liabilities and make well-informed decisions.

Download or read book Advances in Environmental Accounting and Management written by Martin Freedman and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Accounting for the Environment written by Martin Freedman and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2014-10-10 with total page 147 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Advances in Environmental Accounting and Management aims to enhance the understanding of global environmental issues and improve environmental performance and disclosures.

Download or read book Three Essays on Corporate Environmental Disclosures and Environmental Performance written by Hani Tadros and published by . This book was released on 2015 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The objective of this dissertation is to study the incentives of firms to disclose their environmental information and examine the reliability of the information disclosed. To achieve this objective, there is a need to first understand what constitutes environmental disclosures. The first essay, a review of prior disclosure studies, provides a classification of the different types of environmental disclosures and a synopsis about the motivation to disclose each type of information, the reliability and the relevance of the information disclosed to different stakeholders. The outcome of this research shows that many types of environmental information are relevant to the financial and non-financial stakeholders; however, there are still other types of information that needs to be researched to finally achieve a comprehensive framework of environmental disclosures. The second essay examines the association between environmental disclosures and firms’ environmental performances. The study provides a framework to explain the disclosure process demonstrating the effect of economic and legitimacy factors, environmental performance, and the media communicating these disclosures on the amount and type of information reported. The results suggest that environmental reporting is biased; where firms with higher levels of environmental performance disclose more voluntary information while firms with low-environmental performance tend to meet the mandatory disclosure requirements. There is little evidence to suggest that firms with low-environmental performances use their environmental disclosures to maintain the legitimacy of their environmental operations. The third essay examines the reliability of environmental performance indicators disclosed. The results suggest that the reporting of firms’ EPIs might be free of bias as the study finds no association between the information disclosed and firms’ environmental performance. In general, the dissertation provides assurances over the reliability of environmental information disclosed. There is no denial that firms are subject to pressures from non-financial stakeholders to justify the impact of their operations on the environment. This dissertation shows that firms attempt to use their environmental disclosures to mitigate the effects of these pressures; however, it also suggests that the need to legitimize their operations is not the main driver behind the reporting of environmental information.

Download or read book Voluntary Approaches for Environmental Policy Effectiveness Efficiency and Usage in Policy Mixes written by OECD and published by OECD Publishing. This book was released on 2003-06-18 with total page 137 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report assesses the use of voluntary approaches by building on a number of new case studies and an extensive search of the available literature.

Download or read book EPA Enforcement written by United States. Environmental Protection Agency and published by . This book was released on 1972 with total page 418 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Complex Intelligent and Software Intensive Systems written by Leonard Barolli and published by Springer Nature. This book was released on 2021-06-29 with total page 761 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book includes the proceedings of the 15th International Conference on Complex, Intelligent, and Software Intensive Systems, which took place in Asan, Korea, on July 1–3, 2021. Software intensive systems are systems, which heavily interact with other systems, sensors, actuators, devices, and other software systems and users. More and more domains are involved with software intensive systems, e.g., automotive, telecommunication systems, embedded systems in general, industrial automation systems, and business applications. Moreover, the outcome of web services delivers a new platform for enabling software intensive systems. Complex systems research is focused on the overall understanding of systems rather than its components. Complex systems are very much characterized by the changing environments in which they act by their multiple internal and external interactions. They evolve and adapt through internal and external dynamic interactions. The development of intelligent systems and agents, which is each time more characterized by the use of ontologies and their logical foundations build a fruitful impulse for both software intensive systems and complex systems. Recent research in the field of intelligent systems, robotics, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, and cognitive sciences is very important factor for the future development and innovation of software intensive and complex systems. The aim of the book is to deliver a platform of scientific interaction between the three interwoven challenging areas of research and development of future ICT-enabled applications: Software intensive systems, complex systems, and intelligent systems.

Download or read book The Relations Among Environmental Disclosure Environmental Performance and Economic Performance written by Sulaiman Al-Tuwaijri and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This study provides an integrated analysis of the interrelations among (1) environmental disclosure, (2) environmental performance, and (3) economic performance. Based on the argument that management's (unobservable) overall strategy affects each of these corporate responsibilities, we conjecture that prior literature's mixed results describing their interrelations may be attributable to the fact that researchers have not considered these functions to be jointly determined. After endogenizing these corporate functions in simultaneous equations models, we obtain results that suggest "good" environmental performance is significantly associated with "good" economic performance, and also with more extensive quantifiable environmental disclosures of specific pollution measures and occurrences.