IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v35y2026i3p4148-4170.html

Does Politics Influence Environmental, Social, and Governance Disclosure? Empirical Evidence From US Listed Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Gianluca Moretti
  • Simone Terzani
  • Gennaro De Novellis

Abstract

This study investigates the relations among firm political ideology, state political ideology, and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure. It is the first study to simultaneously explore both individual‐ and state‐level influences on ESG disclosure. Using panel regression models on a sample of firms in the United States of America from 2013 to 2020, the study finds that liberal ideology is associated with higher ESG disclosure. This behavior is driven by the desire to meet stakeholder expectations and operate in a supportive environment for addressing social and environmental issues. These findings remain consistent across various tests, demonstrating their robustness and reliability. The study contributes to the literature on informal political determinants of ESG disclosure, being potentially helpful for policymakers in developing more impactful regulations and recommendations to incentivize ESG disclosure. The findings may also assist firms in aligning their sustainability reporting with political contexts and stakeholder needs.

Suggested Citation

  • Gianluca Moretti & Simone Terzani & Gennaro De Novellis, 2026. "Does Politics Influence Environmental, Social, and Governance Disclosure? Empirical Evidence From US Listed Firms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(3), pages 4148-4170, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:35:y:2026:i:3:p:4148-4170
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.70373
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70373
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.70373?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Stephen Ansolabehere & John M. de Figueiredo & James M. Snyder Jr, 2003. "Why is There so Little Money in U.S. Politics?," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 17(1), pages 105-130, Winter.
    2. Badrul Muttakin, Mohammad & Chatterjee, Bikram & Khan, Arifur & Getie Mihret, Dessalegn & Roy, Rajat & Yaftian, Ali, 2022. "Corporate political donations, board gender diversity, and corporate social responsibility: Evidence from Australia," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 290-299.
    3. Stuckatz, Jan, 2022. "How the Workplace Affects Employee Political Contributions," American Political Science Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 116(1), pages 54-69, February.
    4. Pablo Andres & Inigo Garcia-Rodriguez & M. Elena Romero-Merino & Marcos Santamaria-Mariscal, 2023. "Political directors and corporate social responsibility: Are political ideology and regional identity relevant?," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 17(1), pages 339-373, January.
    5. Jan Stuckatz, 2022. "How the workplace affects employee political contributions," Post-Print hal-03722812, HAL.
    6. Volkan Tibet Gur & Andrey Tomashevskiy, 2024. "Taking sides: Corporate social responsibility and political ideology," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(3), pages 1321-1344, November.
    7. Paul A. Griffin & Yuan Sun & Steven Cahan, 2013. "Strange bedfellows? Voluntary corporate social responsibility disclosure and politics," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 53(4), pages 867-903, December.
    8. Guido Palazzo & Andreas Scherer, 2006. "Corporate Legitimacy as Deliberation: A Communicative Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 66(1), pages 71-88, June.
    9. Niklas Potrafke, 2011. "Does government ideology influence budget composition? Empirical evidence from OECD countries," Economics of Governance, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 101-134, June.
    10. Kim, Incheol & Ryou, Ji Woo & Yang, Rong, 2020. "The color of shareholders' money: Institutional shareholders' political values and corporate environmental disclosure," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    11. Hutton, Irena & Jiang, Danling & Kumar, Alok, 2014. "Corporate Policies of Republican Managers," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 49(5-6), pages 1279-1310, December.
    12. Adam Waytz & Ravi Iyer & Liane Young & Jonathan Haidt & Jesse Graham, 2019. "Ideological differences in the expanse of the moral circle," Nature Communications, Nature, vol. 10(1), pages 1-12, December.
    13. Michael J. Barber & Brandice Canes‐Wrone & Sharece Thrower, 2017. "Ideologically Sophisticated Donors: Which Candidates Do Individual Contributors Finance?," American Journal of Political Science, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 61(2), pages 271-288, April.
    14. Monica Singhania & Neha Saini, 2023. "Institutional framework of ESG disclosures: comparative analysis of developed and developing countries," Journal of Sustainable Finance & Investment, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 13(1), pages 516-559, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Laurent Bouton & Julia Cagé & Edgard Dewitte & Vincent Pons, 2021. "Small Campaign Donors," Working Papers hal-03878175, HAL.
    2. Preuss, Susanne & Max, Malte M., 2024. "Do firms put their money where their mouth is? Sociopolitical claims and corporate political activity," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    3. Laurent Bouton & Micael Castanheira & Allan Drazen, 2024. "A Theory of Small Campaign Contributions," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(662), pages 2351-2390.
    4. Larcinese, Valentino & Parmigiani, Alberto, 2023. "Income inequality and campaign contributions: evidence from the Reagan tax cut," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118456, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Hoepner, Andreas G.F. & Lin, Ming-Tsung, 2022. "Do shareholder views affect corporate political activities?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    6. Rebecca Lessem & Sarah Niebler & Carly Urban, 2023. "Do house prices affect campaign contributions?," Economics and Politics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(2), pages 629-660, July.
    7. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Sun, Xian & Wu, Qiang, 2016. "CEO political preference and corporate tax sheltering," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 37-53.
    8. Valentino Larcinese & Alberto Parmigiani, 2026. "Income Inequality and Campaign Contributions: Evidence from the 1986 Reagan Tax Cut," CESifo Working Paper Series 12574, CESifo.
    9. Lee, Jongsub & Lee, Kwang J. & Nagarajan, Nandu J., 2014. "Birds of a feather: Value implications of political alignment between top management and directors," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(2), pages 232-250.
    10. Alnahedh, Saad & Alhashel, Bader, 2024. "Firm executive political leanings, Washington, and stock market returns," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 476-491.
    11. Bhandari, Avishek & Golden, Joanna, 2021. "CEO political preference and credit ratings," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 68(C).
    12. DeVault, Luke & Sias, Richard, 2017. "Hedge fund politics and portfolios," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 75(C), pages 80-97.
    13. Pierre-Yves Néron, 2016. "Rethinking the Ethics of Corporate Political Activities in a Post-Citizens United Era: Political Equality, Corporate Citizenship, and Market Failures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(4), pages 715-728, July.
    14. Patrick Balles & Ulrich Matter & Alois Stutzer, 2024. "Special Interest Groups Versus Voters and the Political Economics of Attention," The Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 134(662), pages 2290-2320.
    15. Alhashel, Bader S., 2020. "Hail to the chief: The effect of political alignment with the presidency on corporate investment," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    16. Saad Alnahedh & Bader Alhashel, 2021. "Political ideology in M&A," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 48(9-10), pages 1711-1746, October.
    17. Francis, Bill B. & Hasan, Iftekhar & Sun, Xian & Wu, Qiang, 2016. "CEO political preference and corporate tax sheltering," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 37-53.
    18. Danling Jiang & Alok Kumar & Kelvin K. F. Law, 2016. "Political contributions and analyst behavior," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 37-88, March.
    19. Dewan, Yasir, 2019. "Corporate crime and punishment : The role of status and ideology," Other publications TiSEM 08d87b94-7449-4a1f-a3ae-0, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    20. Michael Kowal, 2023. "The Value of a Like: Facebook, Viral Posts, and Campaign Finance in US Congressional Elections," Media and Communication, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(3), pages 153-163.

    More about this item

    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:bla:bstrat:v:35:y:2026:i:3:p:4148-4170. 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: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    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.