IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/diw/diwwpp/dp1795.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Fighting Climate Change with Disclosure? The Real Effects of Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Emission Disclosure

Author

Listed:
  • Benedikt Downar
  • Jürgen Ernstberger
  • Hannes Rettenbacher
  • Sebastian Schwenen
  • Aleksandar Zaklan

Abstract

We examine whether mandatory disclosure of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions influences companies’ GHG emission levels. We identify the disclosure effect by exploiting a mandate requiring UK-incorporated listed companies to disclose information on GHG emissions in their annual reports. Using a difference-in-differences design, we show that disclosing GHG emissions in annual reports reduces emission levels by about 18% over three years. We find that emission reductions primarily occur for first-time mandatory reporters compared to firms who already voluntarily reported GHG information prior to the mandate. Further, we find that the emission reductions are permanent rather than transitory and we obtain stronger results for firms with larger savings potentials. Our effects are robust to various sample specifications, i.e., analysis at the installation- and firm-level, alternative control groups, and propensity score matching.

Suggested Citation

  • Benedikt Downar & Jürgen Ernstberger & Hannes Rettenbacher & Sebastian Schwenen & Aleksandar Zaklan, 2019. "Fighting Climate Change with Disclosure? The Real Effects of Mandatory Greenhouse Gas Emission Disclosure," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1795, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    • Handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1795
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.diw.de/documents/publikationen/73/diw_01.c.616042.de/dp1795.pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ralf Martin & Mirabelle Muûls & Ulrich J. Wagner, 2016. "The Impact of the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme on Regulated Firms: What Is the Evidence after Ten Years?," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(1), pages 129-148.
    2. Biddle, Gary C. & Hilary, Gilles & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2009. "How does financial reporting quality relate to investment efficiency?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 48(2-3), pages 112-131, December.
    3. Nemit Shroff, 2017. "Corporate investment and changes in GAAP," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 22(1), pages 1-63, March.
    4. Brian C. Murray & Peter T. Maniloff & Evan M. Murray, 2015. "Why Have Greenhouse Emissions in RGGI States Declined? An Econometric Attribution to Economic, Energy Market and Policy Factors (Payne Institute Policy Brief)," Payne Institute Policy Briefs 2014-04, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business.
    5. A. Denny Ellerman & Claudio Marcantonini & Aleksandar Zaklan, 2016. "The European Union Emissions Trading System: Ten Years and Counting," Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 10(1), pages 89-107.
    6. Dyreng, Scott D. & Lindsey, Bradley P. & Markle, Kevin S. & Shackelford, Douglas A., 2015. "The effect of tax and nontax country characteristics on the global equity supply chains of U.S. multinationals," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(2), pages 182-202.
    7. Mark P. Sharfman & Chitru S. Fernando, 2008. "Environmental risk management and the cost of capital," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 569-592, June.
    8. Bel, Germà & Joseph, Stephan, 2015. "Emission abatement: Untangling the impacts of the EU ETS and the economic crisis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 531-539.
    9. Barry Anderson & Corrado Di Maria, 2011. "Abatement and Allocation in the Pilot Phase of the EU ETS," Environmental & Resource Economics, Springer;European Association of Environmental and Resource Economists, vol. 48(1), pages 83-103, January.
    10. Murray, Brian C. & Maniloff, Peter T., 2015. "Why have greenhouse emissions in RGGI states declined? An econometric attribution to economic, energy market, and policy factors," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 581-589.
    11. Gilles Hilary & Gary C. Biddle, 2006. "Accounting Quality and Firm-Level Capital Investment," Post-Print hal-00481720, HAL.
    12. Kleimeier, S. & Viehs, P.M., 2016. "Carbon disclosure, emission levels, and the cost of debt," Research Memorandum 003, Maastricht University, Graduate School of Business and Economics (GSBE).
    13. Philipp KRÜGER, 2015. "Climate Change and Firm Valuation: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment," Swiss Finance Institute Research Paper Series 15-40, Swiss Finance Institute.
    14. John R. Graham & Michelle Hanlon & Terry Shevlin, 2011. "Real Effects of Accounting Rules: Evidence from Multinational Firms’ Investment Location and Profit Repatriation Decisions," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(1), pages 137-185, March.
    15. Christian Leuz & Peter D. Wysocki, 2016. "The Economics of Disclosure and Financial Reporting Regulation: Evidence and Suggestions for Future Research," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(2), pages 525-622, May.
    16. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10174 is not listed on IDEAS
    17. Cheng, Mei & Dhaliwal, Dan & Zhang, Yuan, 2013. "Does investment efficiency improve after the disclosure of material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting?," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(1), pages 1-18.
    18. Henry L. Friedman & Mirko S. Heinle, 2016. "Taste, information, and asset prices: implications for the valuation of CSR," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 21(3), pages 740-767, September.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ali Meftah Gerged & Lane Matthews & Mohamed Elheddad, 2021. "Mandatory disclosure, greenhouse gas emissions and the cost of equity capital: UK evidence of a U‐shaped relationship," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 908-930, February.
    2. Abdifatah Ahmed Haji & Paul Coram & Indrit Troshani, 2021. "Effects of integrating CSR information in financial reports on investors’ firm value estimates," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 3605-3647, June.
    3. Franziska Schütze & Jan Stede, 2020. "EU Sustainable Finance Taxonomy – What Is Its Role on the Road towards Climate Neutrality?," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1923, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Virginia Câmpeanu, 2021. "Comments Regarding the Book How To Avoid A Climate Disaster," Global Economic Observer, "Nicolae Titulescu" University of Bucharest, Faculty of Economic Sciences;Institute for World Economy of the Romanian Academy, vol. 9(1), pages 210-219, June.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Benedikt Downar & Jürgen Ernstberger & Stefan Reichelstein & Sebastian Schwenen & Aleksandar Zaklan, 2021. "The impact of carbon disclosure mandates on emissions and financial operating performance," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1137-1175, September.
    2. Roychowdhury, Sugata & Shroff, Nemit & Verdi, Rodrigo S., 2019. "The effects of financial reporting and disclosure on corporate investment: A review," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(2).
    3. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    4. Christensen, Hans B. & Floyd, Eric & Liu, Lisa Yao & Maffett, Mark, 2017. "The real effects of mandated information on social responsibility in financial reports: Evidence from mine-safety records," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(2), pages 284-304.
    5. Sæther, Simen Rostad, 2021. "Climate policy choices: An empirical study of the effects on the OECD and BRICS power sector emission intensity," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 499-515.
    6. Mitsutsugu Hamamoto, 2019. "Impact of the Saitama Prefecture Target-Setting Emissions Trading Program on the Adoption of Low-Carbon Technology," RIEEM Discussion Paper Series 1909, Research Institute for Environmental Economics and Management, Waseda University.
    7. Tong Lu & Konduru Sivaramakrishnan & Yanyan Wang & Lisheng Yu, 2021. "The Real Effects of Mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting in China," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(5), pages 1493-1516, May.
    8. Marit Klemetsen & Knut Einar Rosendahl & Anja Lund Jakobsen, 2020. "The Impacts Of The Eu Ets On Norwegian Plants’ Environmental And Economic Performance," Climate Change Economics (CCE), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 11(01), pages 1-32, February.
    9. Eugster, Florian & Wagner, Alexander F., 2020. "Value reporting and firm performance," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 40(C).
    10. Toshi H. Arimura & Tatsuya Abe, 2021. "The impact of the Tokyo emissions trading scheme on office buildings: what factor contributed to the emission reduction?," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(3), pages 517-533, July.
    11. Jessica F. Green, 2021. "Beyond Carbon Pricing: Tax Reform is Climate Policy," Global Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, vol. 12(3), pages 372-379, May.
    12. Borghesi, Simone & Flori, Andrea, 2018. "EU ETS facets in the net: Structure and evolution of the EU ETS network," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 602-635.
    13. Mitsutsugu Hamamoto, 2021. "Impact of the Saitama Prefecture Target-Setting Emissions Trading Program on the adoption of low-carbon technology," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(3), pages 501-515, July.
    14. Qiang Cheng & Young Jun Cho & Holly Yang, 2018. "Financial reporting changes and the internal information environment: Evidence from SFAS 142," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 23(1), pages 347-383, March.
    15. Bo-Hung Chiou & Shen-Ho Chang, 2020. "Influence of Investment Efficiency by Managers and Accounting Conservatism on Idiosyncratic Risks to Investors," Advances in Management and Applied Economics, SCIENPRESS Ltd, vol. 10(1), pages 1-8.
    16. Abigail Allen & Melissa F. Lewis‐Western & Kristen Valentine, 2022. "The Innovation and Reporting Consequences of Financial Regulation for Young Life‐Cycle Firms," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 60(1), pages 45-95, March.
    17. Simone Lazzini & Zeila Occhipinti & Angela Parenti & Roberto Verona, 2021. "Disentangling economic crisis effects from environmental regulation effects: Implications for sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2332-2353, July.
    18. Oskar Lecuyer & Philippe Quirion, 2019. "Interaction between CO2 emissions trading and renewable energy subsidies under uncertainty: feed-in tariffs as a safety net against over-allocation," Climate Policy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 19(8), pages 1002-1018, September.
    19. Emanuel Kohlscheen & Richhild Moessner & Elod Takáts, 2021. "Effects of Carbon Pricing and Other Climate Policies on CO2 Emissions," CESifo Working Paper Series 9347, CESifo.
    20. Yin Liu & Huiqi Gan & Khondkar Karim, 2021. "The effectiveness of chief financial officer board membership in improving corporate investment efficiency," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 487-521, August.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Disclosure of non-financial information; greenhouse gas emissions; real effects;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • Q28 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Renewable Resources and Conservation - - - Government Policy
    • Q40 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Energy - - - General
    • M41 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Accounting
    • M48 - Business Administration and Business Economics; Marketing; Accounting; Personnel Economics - - Accounting - - - Government Policy and Regulation

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:diw:diwwpp:dp1795. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Bibliothek (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/diwbede.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.