IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v164y2020i2d10.1007_s10551-018-4074-0.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Voluntary Engagement in Environmental Projects: Evidence from Environmental Violators

Author

Listed:
  • Gladys Lee

    (The University of Melbourne)

  • Xinning Xiao

    (Monash University)

Abstract

An important question in the business ethics literature concerns organizational response in the aftermath of an unethical business practice. This study examines factors affecting firms’ decision to take reparative action in the aftermath of an environmental violation. Specifically, we investigate environmental violators’ decision to undertake a Supplemental Environmental Project (SEP), which is an initiative that promotes restorative justice. To settle an environmental violation, the United States’ environmental regulator allows offenders the option of either paying the full penalty or a reduced sum while spending additional effort and engaging in an environmental project. As predicted, we find that firms with poorer past environmental performance and greater shareholder environmental activism are more likely to engage and invest in a SEP. Additionally, there is a stronger association between shareholder activism and SEP investment when firms have poorer past environmental performance. Our findings inform regulators, stakeholders, and business ethics researchers on the factors that lead firms to undertake reparative action following unethical business practices.

Suggested Citation

  • Gladys Lee & Xinning Xiao, 2020. "Voluntary Engagement in Environmental Projects: Evidence from Environmental Violators," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 164(2), pages 325-348, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:164:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-018-4074-0
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-018-4074-0
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-018-4074-0
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-018-4074-0?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Dasgupta, Susmita & Hong, Jong Ho & Laplante, Benoit & Mamingi, Nlandu, 2006. "Disclosure of environmental violations and stock market in the Republic of Korea," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 58(4), pages 759-777, July.
    2. Jason Zhang & Hong Zhu & Hung-bin Ding, 2013. "Board Composition and Corporate Social Responsibility: An Empirical Investigation in the Post Sarbanes-Oxley Era," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(3), pages 381-392, May.
    3. Eric Lamm & Jennifer Tosti-Kharas & Cynthia King, 2015. "Empowering Employee Sustainability: Perceived Organizational Support Toward the Environment," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 128(1), pages 207-220, April.
    4. Shameek Konar & Mark A. Cohen, 2001. "Does The Market Value Environmental Performance?," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 83(2), pages 281-289, May.
    5. Chee‐Yeow Lim & Hun‐Tong Tan, 2008. "Non‐audit Service Fees and Audit Quality: The Impact of Auditor Specialization," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 46(1), pages 199-246, March.
    6. Heinkel, Robert & Kraus, Alan & Zechner, Josef, 2001. "The Effect of Green Investment on Corporate Behavior," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 36(4), pages 431-449, December.
    7. Dierkes, Meinolf & Preston, Lee E., 1977. "Corporate social accounting reporting for the physical environment: A critical review and implementation proposal," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 3-22, January.
    8. Olivier Boiral, 2009. "Greening the Corporation Through Organizational Citizenship Behaviors," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(2), pages 221-236, June.
    9. Juhyun Jung & Kathleen Herbohn & Peter Clarkson, 2018. "Carbon Risk, Carbon Risk Awareness and the Cost of Debt Financing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 150(4), pages 1151-1171, July.
    10. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2011. "Does it really pay to be green? Determinants and consequences of proactive environmental strategies," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 30(2), pages 122-144, March.
    11. Cho, Charles H. & Patten, Dennis M., 2007. "The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 639-647.
    12. Goodstein, Jerry & Butterfield, Kenneth D., 2010. "Extending the Horizon of Business Ethics: Restorative Justice and the Aftermath of Unethical Behavior," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 20(3), pages 453-480, July.
    13. Chih†Ying Chen & Chan†Jane Lin & Yu†Chen Lin, 2008. "Audit Partner Tenure, Audit Firm Tenure, and Discretionary Accruals: Does Long Auditor Tenure Impair Earnings Quality?," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(2), pages 415-445, June.
    14. José Carlos Marques, 2017. "Industry Business Associations: Self-Interested or Socially Conscious?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 143(4), pages 733-751, July.
    15. Kyungho Kim, 2018. "Proactive versus Reactive Corporate Environmental Practices and Environmental Performance," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-19, January.
    16. X. Xu & S. Zeng & C. Tam, 2012. "Stock Market’s Reaction to Disclosure of Environmental Violations: Evidence from China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 107(2), pages 227-237, May.
    17. Charles Cho, 2009. "Legitimation Strategies Used in Response to Environmental Disaster: A French Case Study of Total SA's Erika and AZF Incidents," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 18(1), pages 33-62.
    18. J. Emil Morhardt, 2010. "Corporate social responsibility and sustainability reporting on the Internet," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(7), pages 436-452, November.
    19. Kenneth Roeck & Nathalie Delobbe, 2012. "Do Environmental CSR Initiatives Serve Organizations’ Legitimacy in the Oil Industry? Exploring Employees’ Reactions Through Organizational Identification Theory," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(4), pages 397-412, November.
    20. Patten, Dennis M. & Trompeter, Greg, 2003. "Corporate responses to political costs: an examination of the relation between environmental disclosure and earnings management," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 83-94.
    21. Aaron K. Chatterji & David I. Levine & Michael W. Toffel, 2009. "How Well Do Social Ratings Actually Measure Corporate Social Responsibility?," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(1), pages 125-169, March.
    22. Javier González‐Benito & Óscar González‐Benito, 2010. "A study of determinant factors of stakeholder environmental pressure perceived by industrial companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(3), pages 164-181, March.
    23. Di Giuli, Alberta & Kostovetsky, Leonard, 2014. "Are red or blue companies more likely to go green? Politics and corporate social responsibility," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(1), pages 158-180.
    24. Heather R. Dixon-Fowler & Alan E. Ellstrand & Jonathan L. Johnson, 2017. "The Role of Board Environmental Committees in Corporate Environmental Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 423-438, February.
    25. Roberts, Robin W., 1992. "Determinants of corporate social responsibility disclosure: An application of stakeholder theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(6), pages 595-612, August.
    26. Han Lin & Saixing Zeng & Liangyan Wang & Hailiang Zou & Hanyang Ma, 2016. "How Does Environmental Irresponsibility Impair Corporate Reputation? A Multi‐Method Investigation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(6), pages 413-423, November.
    27. Natalia Semenova & Lars Hassel, 2015. "On the Validity of Environmental Performance Metrics," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 132(2), pages 249-258, December.
    28. Blake E. Ashforth & Barrie W. Gibbs, 1990. "The Double-Edge of Organizational Legitimation," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 1(2), pages 177-194, May.
    29. Mohammed Benlemlih & Amama Shaukat & Yan Qiu & Grzegorz Trojanowski, 2018. "Environmental and Social Disclosures and Firm Risk," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(3), pages 613-626, October.
    30. Cristel Antonia Russell & Dale W. Russell & Heather Honea, 2016. "Corporate Social Responsibility Failures: How do Consumers Respond to Corporate Violations of Implied Social Contracts?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(4), pages 759-773, July.
    31. Patten, Dennis M., 2002. "The relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: a research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 27(8), pages 763-773, November.
    32. Bilian Ni Sullivan & Pamela Haunschild & Karen Page, 2007. "Organizations Non Gratae? The Impact of Unethical Corporate Acts on Interorganizational Networks," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 18(1), pages 55-70, February.
    33. Magali Delmas & Vered Doctori Blass, 2010. "Measuring corporate environmental performance: the trade‐offs of sustainability ratings," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19(4), pages 245-260, May.
    34. Noel Brown & Craig Deegan, 1998. "The public disclosure of environmental performance information—a dual test of media agenda setting theory and legitimacy theory," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 21-41.
    35. H. L. Zou & R. C. Zeng & S. X. Zeng & Jonathan J. Shi, 2015. "How Do Environmental Violation Events Harm Corporate Reputation?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 836-854, December.
    36. Jung Wan Lee & Young Min Kim & Young Ei Kim, 2018. "Antecedents of Adopting Corporate Environmental Responsibility and Green Practices," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 148(2), pages 397-409, March.
    37. Karpoff, Jonathan M & Lott, John R, Jr & Wehrly, Eric W, 2005. "The Reputational Penalties for Environmental Violations: Empirical Evidence," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 48(2), pages 653-675, October.
    38. Patten, Dennis M., 1992. "Intra-industry environmental disclosures in response to the Alaskan oil spill: A note on legitimacy theory," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 471-475, July.
    39. Jan Endrikat, 2016. "Market Reactions to Corporate Environmental Performance Related Events: A Meta-analytic Consolidation of the Empirical Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 535-548, October.
    40. Judith L. Walls & Pascual Berrone & Phillip H. Phan, 2012. "Corporate governance and environmental performance: is there really a link?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 885-913, August.
    41. Henriques, Irene & Sadorsky, Perry, 1996. "The Determinants of an Environmentally Responsive Firm: An Empirical Approach," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(3), pages 381-395, May.
    42. Belen Fernandez-Feijoo & Silvia Romero & Silvia Ruiz, 2014. "Effect of Stakeholders’ Pressure on Transparency of Sustainability Reports within the GRI Framework," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 122(1), pages 53-63, June.
    43. Robert D. Klassen & Curtis P. McLaughlin, 1996. "The Impact of Environmental Management on Firm Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(8), pages 1199-1214, August.
    44. Aaron K. Chatterji & Rodolphe Durand & David I. Levine & Samuel Touboul, 2016. "Do ratings of firms converge? Implications for managers, investors and strategy researchers," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(8), pages 1597-1614, August.
    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. Xiangyu Chang & Yinghui Huang & Mei Li & Xin Bo & Subodha Kumar, 2021. "Efficient Detection of Environmental Violators: A Big Data Approach," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 30(5), pages 1246-1270, May.
    2. Maria Jell‐Ojobor & Aveed Raha, 2022. "Being good at being good—The mediating role of an environmental management system in value‐creating green supply chain management practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 1964-1984, July.
    3. Charl de Villiers & Jing Jia & Zhongtian Li, 2022. "Corporate social responsibility: A review of empirical research using Thomson Reuters Asset4 data," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(4), pages 4523-4568, December.
    4. Tamas Barko & Martijn Cremers & Luc Renneboog, 2022. "Shareholder Engagement on Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 777-812, October.
    5. Francesco Gangi & Lucia Michela Daniele & Nicola Varrone & Francesca Vicentini & Maria Coscia, 2021. "Equity mutual funds' interest in the environmental, social and governance policies of target firms: Does gender diversity in management teams matter?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(3), pages 1018-1031, May.
    6. Fan Xia & Yunxin Hua & Bing Zhang, 2024. "Does non‐compliance pay? Environmental violations and share prices in China," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1886-1904, May.
    7. Chunhua Xin & Xiaolu Hao & Lu Cheng, 2022. "Do Environmental Administrative Penalties Affect Audit Fees? Results from Multiple Econometric Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-25, April.
    8. Yinju Nie & Ming Jia, 2021. "The power of crowds: can minority shareholder activism promote management earnings forecast accuracy," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(5), pages 6333-6385, December.

    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. Michael Dobler & Kaouthar Lajili & Daniel Zéghal, 2014. "Environmental Performance, Environmental Risk and Risk Management," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 1-17, January.
    2. Jieun Chung & Charles H. Cho, 2018. "Current Trends within Social and Environmental Accounting Research: A Literature Review," Accounting Perspectives, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(2), pages 207-239, June.
    3. Eunice S. Khoo & Li Chen & Gary S. Monroe, 2023. "Shareholder election of CSR committee members and its effects on CSR performance," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(3-4), pages 716-763, March.
    4. Muhammad Nadeem, 2021. "Corporate Governance and Supplemental Environmental Projects: A Restorative Justice Approach," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(2), pages 261-280, October.
    5. Emerald Edem Welbeck & Godfred Matthew Yaw Owusu & Rita Amoah Bekoe & John Amoah Kusi, 2017. "Determinants of environmental disclosures of listed firms in Ghana," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 2(1), pages 1-12, December.
    6. Soh Young In & Young Joon Lee & Robert G. Eccles, 2024. "Looking back and looking forward: A scientometric analysis of the evolution of corporate sustainability research over 47 years," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 2225-2259, May.
    7. Yang Stephanie Liu & Xiaoyan Zhou & Jessica Yang & Andreas Hoepner, 2016. "Corporate Carbon Emission and Financial Performance: Does Carbon Disclosure Mediate the Relationship in the UK?," ICMA Centre Discussion Papers in Finance icma-dp2016-03, Henley Business School, University of Reading.
    8. Linda Kusumaning Wedari & Amir Moradi‐Motlagh & Christine Jubb, 2023. "The moderating effect of innovation on the relationship between environmental and financial performance: Evidence from high emitters in Australia," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 654-672, January.
    9. Tesfaye T. Lemma & Martin Feedman & Mthokozisi Mlilo & Jin Dong Park, 2019. "Corporate carbon risk, voluntary disclosure, and cost of capital: South African evidence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 111-126, January.
    10. Yi Quan & Huiying Wu & Sihai Li & Sammy Xiaoyan Ying, 2018. "Firm sustainable development and stakeholder engagement: The role of government support," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1145-1158, December.
    11. Patten, Dennis M., 2015. "An insider's reflection on quantitative research in the social and environmental disclosure domain," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 32(C), pages 45-50.
    12. Michelle Rodrigue & Michel Magnan & Charles Cho, 2013. "Is Environmental Governance Substantive or Symbolic? An Empirical Investigation," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(1), pages 107-129, April.
    13. Omaima A.G. Hassan & Peter Romilly, 2018. "Relations between corporate economic performance, environmental disclosure and greenhouse gas emissions: New insights," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(7), pages 893-909, November.
    14. H. L. Zou & R. C. Zeng & S. X. Zeng & Jonathan J. Shi, 2015. "How Do Environmental Violation Events Harm Corporate Reputation?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 836-854, December.
    15. Charles H. Cho & Jonathan Maurice & Emmanuelle Nègre & Marie-Anne Verdier, 2016. "Is environmental disclosure good for the environment? A meta-analysis and research agenda," Post-Print halshs-01369422, HAL.
    16. Krüger, Philipp, 2015. "Corporate goodness and shareholder wealth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 304-329.
    17. María Luisa Pajuelo Moreno & Teresa Duarte-Atoche, 2019. "Relationship between Sustainable Disclosure and Performance—An Extension of Ullmann’s Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-33, August.
    18. Stephen Bahadar & Muhammad Nadeem & Rashid Zaman, 2023. "Toxic chemical releases and idiosyncratic return volatility: A prospect theory perspective," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(2), pages 2109-2143, June.
    19. Kira R. Fabrizio & Eun-Hee Kim, 2019. "Reluctant Disclosure and Transparency: Evidence from Environmental Disclosures," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 30(6), pages 1207-1231, November.
    20. Surender Kumar & Pritika Dua, 2022. "Environmental management practices and financial performance: evidence from large listed Indian enterprises," Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 65(1), pages 37-61, January.

    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:kap:jbuset:v:164:y:2020:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-018-4074-0. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.