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Evaluating the effectiveness of an environmental disclosure policy: An application to New South Wales

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  • Kasim, M. Taha

Abstract

The main purpose of introducing an environmental information disclosure strategy is to reduce informational asymmetries and put pressure on firms to reduce emissions. This paper studies the impact of such a policy on air quality in New South Wales (NSW), Australia. A regression discontinuity design is employed and the results show that pollutant concentration levels were not significantly affected after the implementation of the policy. Empirically, the estimates of the effects under the discontinuity-based OLS model have the opposite sign for some of the pollutants relative to the estimates from the basic OLS model. Therefore, basing conclusions on the OLS results will engender incorrect inference. Discontinuity-based results are robust to different model specifications.

Suggested Citation

  • Kasim, M. Taha, 2017. "Evaluating the effectiveness of an environmental disclosure policy: An application to New South Wales," Resource and Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 113-131.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:resene:v:49:y:2017:i:c:p:113-131
    DOI: 10.1016/j.reseneeco.2017.04.003
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Zhang, Ziqi & Su, Zhi & Wang, Ke & Zhang, Yongji, 2022. "Corporate environmental information disclosure and stock price crash risk: Evidence from Chinese listed heavily polluting companies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).
    3. Yunpeng Yang & Weixin Yang, 2019. "Does Whistleblowing Work for Air Pollution Control in China? A Study Based on Three-party Evolutionary Game Model under Incomplete Information," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(2), pages 1-20, January.
    4. Shi, Daqian & Bu, Caiqi & Xue, Huiyuan, 2021. "Deterrence effects of disclosure: The impact of environmental information disclosure on emission reduction of firms," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C).
    5. Zhao, Xing & Guo, Yifan & Feng, Tianchu, 2023. "Towards green recovery: Natural resources utilization efficiency under the impact of environmental information disclosure," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    6. Lee, Gunhee & Bae, Mincheol & Sohn, Joongchan & Han, Chanwoo & Cho, Jinhyung, 2024. "Does voluntary environmental information disclosure prevent stock price crash risk? – Comparative analysis of chaebol and non-chaebol in Korea," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 131(C).
    7. Lívia Maria da Silva Santos & Wenner Glaucio Lopes Lucena & Wesley Vieira da Silva & Tatiana Marceda Bach & Claudimar Pereira da Veiga, 2019. "Explanatory Factors of the Environmental Disclosure of Potentially Polluting Companies: Evidence From Brazil," SAGE Open, , vol. 9(1), pages 21582440198, February.
    8. Yanhong Tang & Xin Miao & Hongyu Zang & Yanhong Gao, 2018. "Information Disclosure on Hazards from Industrial Water Pollution Incidents: Latent Resistance and Countermeasures in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(5), pages 1-15, May.

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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • L51 - Industrial Organization - - Regulation and Industrial Policy - - - Economics of Regulation
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy

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