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Does Voluntary ESG Reporting Resolve Disagreement among ESG Rating Agencies?

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  • Michael D. Kimbrough
  • Xu (Frank) Wang
  • Sijing Wei
  • Jiarui (Iris) Zhang

Abstract

US companies are increasingly responding to demand from investors and other stakeholders for transparent information about companies’ environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance by issuing ESG reports on a voluntary basis. We examine whether these reports help to resolve the previously documented disagreement among ESG rating agencies about individual companies’ ESG performance. Consistent with this possibility, we find that disagreement among ESG rating agencies is lower for firms that voluntarily issue ESG reports. In particular, disclosures about the environmental and social dimensions help reduce disagreement about the company’s performance on those dimensions. Using textual analysis, we find that longer reports are associated with reduced disagreement among ESG raters while reports with more positive tones or that use a greater number of sticky words are associated with heightened disagreement. The association between ESG disclosure and ESG disagreement is more pronounced when firms obtain third-party attestations on their ESG reports, especially from accounting firms, and when firms adhere to advanced levels of Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reporting standards. Finally, ESG disagreement is positively associated with disagreement and uncertainty in the capital market, providing strong motivation for firms to voluntarily disclose ESG reports to reduce ESG disagreement.

Suggested Citation

  • Michael D. Kimbrough & Xu (Frank) Wang & Sijing Wei & Jiarui (Iris) Zhang, 2024. "Does Voluntary ESG Reporting Resolve Disagreement among ESG Rating Agencies?," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 33(1), pages 15-47, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:euract:v:33:y:2024:i:1:p:15-47
    DOI: 10.1080/09638180.2022.2088588
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Ju, Chunhua & Fang, Xusheng & Shen, Zhonghua, 2025. "ESG rating divergence and stock price crash risk," The North American Journal of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 76(C).
    2. Wang, Xue & Liu, Qingyuan, 2024. "Information disclosure and ESG rating disagreement: Evidence from green bond issuance in China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    3. Liu, Xiangqiang & Peng, Yuling & Li, Qinyang & Wu, Chu-Hua, 2025. "CEO pay structure and ESG rating disagreement," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).
    4. Yuan, Dongliang & Shang, Duo & Wu, Xinmei, 2025. "Cross-listing and ESG rating disagreement," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 78(C).
    5. Wu, Shilei & Zhou, Fu-You & Si, Deng-Kui & Hao, Jiawei, 2025. "Does ESG rating policy reduce corporate risk-taking? Evidence from China," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 90(C).
    6. Mongkhol Moolkham, 2025. "SET ESG ratings and firm value: The new sustainability performance assessment tool in Thailand," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(2), pages 1-23, February.
    7. Zhou, Jian & Lei, Xiaodong, 2025. "ESG rating uncertainty and corporate financial misconduct," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    8. Maria Angela Manzi & Antonio Netti & Christian Favino & Fabrizia Sarto, 2025. "Financial accounting in family business: a systematic literature review and future research agenda," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 29(1), pages 231-275, March.
    9. Liu, Xiangqiang & Dai, Jiajie & Dong, Xiaohong & Liu, Jia, 2024. "ESG rating disagreement and analyst forecast quality," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 95(PB).
    10. Chen, Tianyu & Yin, Ding & Li, Xinghua & Xu, Xuegao, 2025. "Media attention, information asymmetry and agribusiness ESG rating divergence," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 74(C).
    11. Jidong Qin & Meijia Wang, 2025. "ESG rating disagreement and bank loan availability: Evidence from China," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 20(1), pages 1-18, January.
    12. Qian, Binsheng & Poshakwale, Sunil & Tan, Yusen, 2024. "‘E’ of ESG and firm performance: Evidence from China," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
    13. Yin, Libo & Zhu, Xiaoye & Su, Zhi & Guo, Hongliang, 2025. "Is disagreement beneficial for market efficiency? Evidence from ESG ratings," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    14. Shimamura, Takuya & Tanaka, Yoshitaka & Managi, Shunsuke, 2025. "Evaluating the impact of report readability on ESG scores: A generative AI approach," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    15. Sun, Guanglin & Yan, Zian & Gong, Zejun & Li, Mengding, 2025. "The impact of ESG rating divergence on stock price crash risk," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).

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