IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/corsem/v25y2018i3p281-294.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Determinants of Corporate Climate Change Disclosure for European Firms

Author

Listed:
  • Grigoris Giannarakis
  • Eleni Zafeiriou
  • Garyfallos Arabatzis
  • Xanthi Partalidou

Abstract

This study identifies the determinants of climate change disclosure under the prism of sustainable development in European context. The selected variables involve environmental performance, ownership structure, and verification of climate change initiatives. Cross‐sectional data derived from the Bloomberg terminal of the European 500 index concerning 215 firms in the year 2014 are employed. The novelty of the present study stands on the use of proxies for climate change disclosure by adopting the Climate Performance Leadership Index (CPLI). The results reveal that better environmental performance positively affects the level of climate change disclosure. In addition, governmental ownership and independent verification of environmental data determine climate change disclosure. Thus, climate change disclosure is thought to be an effective managerial tool for shareholders and stakeholders to superintend corporate management limiting information asymmetry level; furthermore, higher environmental performers prefer actual climate change disclosure providing a plausible signal. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Suggested Citation

  • Grigoris Giannarakis & Eleni Zafeiriou & Garyfallos Arabatzis & Xanthi Partalidou, 2018. "Determinants of Corporate Climate Change Disclosure for European Firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(3), pages 281-294, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:corsem:v:25:y:2018:i:3:p:281-294
    DOI: 10.1002/csr.1461
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.1461
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/csr.1461?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. Heidi Vander Bauwhede & Marleen Willekens, 2008. "Disclosure on Corporate Governance in the European Union," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 101-115, March.
    2. Akrum Helfaya & Tantawy Moussa, 2017. "Do Board's Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy and Orientation Influence Environmental Sustainability Disclosure? UK Evidence," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1061-1077, December.
    3. Hughes, Susan B. & Anderson, Allison & Golden, Sarah, 2001. "Corporate environmental disclosures: are they useful in determining environmental performance?," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 20(3), pages 217-240.
    4. Cheung, Yan-Leung & Jiang, Ping & Tan, Weiqiang, 2010. "A transparency Disclosure Index measuring disclosures: Chinese listed companies," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 29(3), pages 259-280, June.
    5. Wang, Kun & O, Sewon & Claiborne, M. Cathy, 2008. "Determinants and consequences of voluntary disclosure in an emerging market: Evidence from China," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 17(1), pages 14-30.
    6. Eng, L. L. & Mak, Y. T., 2003. "Corporate governance and voluntary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 325-345.
    7. Luo, Le & Tang, Qingliang, 2014. "Does voluntary carbon disclosure reflect underlying carbon performance?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 191-205.
    8. Wiseman, Joanne, 1982. "An evaluation of environmental disclosures made in corporate annual reports," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 7(1), pages 53-63, January.
    9. Iordanis M. Eleftheriadis & Evgenia G. Anagnostopoulou, 2015. "Relationship between Corporate Climate Change Disclosures and Firm Factors," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 780-789, December.
    10. 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.
    11. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    12. Charles W. L. Hill & Thomas M. Jones, 1992. "Stakeholder‐Agency Theory," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 131-154, March.
    13. Chau, Gerald K. & Gray, Sidney J., 2002. "Ownership structure and corporate voluntary disclosure in Hong Kong and Singapore," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 247-265.
    14. Azlan Amran & Say Keat Ooi & Riduan Toani Mydin & S. Susela Devi, 2015. "The Impact of Business Strategies on Online Sustainability Disclosures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 551-564, September.
    15. Craig Deegan & Michaela Rankin & Peter Voght, 2000. "Firms' Disclosure Reactions to Major Social Incidents: Australian Evidence," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(1), pages 101-130, March.
    16. Torbjörn Tagesson & Veronica Blank & Pernilla Broberg & Sven‐Olof Collin, 2009. "What explains the extent and content of social and environmental disclosures on corporate websites: a study of social and environmental reporting in Swedish listed corporations," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(6), pages 352-364, November.
    17. Stephen Brammer & Stephen Pavelin, 2008. "Factors influencing the quality of corporate environmental disclosure," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(2), pages 120-136, February.
    18. Peter M. Clarkson & Michael B. Overell & Larelle Chapple, 2011. "Environmental Reporting and its Relation to Corporate Environmental Performance," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 47(1), pages 27-60, March.
    19. Cheng, Eugene C.M. & Courtenay, Stephen M., 2006. "Response to discussion of "board composition, regulatory regime and voluntary disclosure"," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 293-294.
    20. Yue Li & Gordon D. Richardson & Daniel B. Thornton, 1997. "Corporate Disclosure of Environmental Liability Information: Theory and Evidence," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 14(3), pages 435-474, September.
    21. Ans Kolk, 2008. "Sustainability, accountability and corporate governance: exploring multinationals' reporting practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 17(1), pages 1-15, January.
    22. Cheng, Eugene C.M. & Courtenay, Stephen M., 2006. "Board composition, regulatory regime and voluntary disclosure," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 41(3), pages 262-289.
    23. Charl de Villiers & Chris van Staden, 2011. "Shareholder Requirements for Compulsory Environmental Information in Annual Reports and on Websites," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 21(4), pages 317-326, December.
    24. Neu, D. & Warsame, H. & Pedwell, K., 1998. "Managing public impressions: environmental disclosures in annual reports," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 265-282, April.
    25. Xiao Huafang & Yuan Jianguo, 2007. "Ownership structure, board composition and corporate voluntary disclosure: Evidence from listed companies in China," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 22(6), pages 604-619, July.
    26. Al-Tuwaijri, Sulaiman A. & Christensen, Theodore E. & Hughes, K. II, 2004. "The relations among environmental disclosure, environmental performance, and economic performance: a simultaneous equations approach," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(5-6), pages 447-471.
    27. Krishna Udayasankar, 2008. "Corporate Social Responsibility and Firm Size," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(2), pages 167-175, December.
    28. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2008. "Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 303-327.
    29. Verrecchia, Robert E., 1983. "Discretionary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 179-194, April.
    30. Liao, Lin & Luo, Le & Tang, Qingliang, 2015. "Gender diversity, board independence, environmental committee and greenhouse gas disclosure," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 409-424.
    31. Alberto Fonseca, 2010. "How credible are mining corporations' sustainability reports? a critical analysis of external assurance under the requirements of the international council on mining and metals," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(6), pages 355-370, November.
    32. Xiao, Jason Zezhong & Yang, He & Chow, Chee W., 2004. "The determinants and characteristics of voluntary Internet-based disclosures by listed Chinese companies," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 23(3), pages 191-225.
    33. Eugenio D'Amico & Daniela Coluccia & Stefano Fontana & Silvia Solimene, 2016. "Factors Influencing Corporate Environmental Disclosure," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(3), pages 178-192, March.
    34. Tauringana, Venancio & Chithambo, Lyton, 2015. "The effect of DEFRA guidance on greenhouse gas disclosure," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 425-444.
    35. Su‐Yol Lee & Yun‐Seon Park & Robert D. Klassen, 2015. "Market Responses to Firms' Voluntary Climate Change Information Disclosure and Carbon Communication," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 22(1), pages 1-12, January.
    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. Jérôme Caby & Ydriss Ziane & Eric Lamarque, 2020. "The determinants of voluntary climate change disclosure commitment and quality in the banking industry," Post-Print hal-02927623, HAL.
    2. Olivier Boiral & Marie‐Christine Brotherton & Léo Rivaud & David Talbot, 2022. "Comparing the uncomparable? An investigation of car manufacturers' climate performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2213-2229, July.
    3. Sohel Mehedi & Shamsun Nahar & Dayana Jalaludin, 2024. "Determinants of corporate climate change disclosure: Is the mediating role of corporate strategic response to environmental governance and policy matter? Evidence from emerging market," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(1), pages 195-210, February.
    4. Francesco Gangi & Antonio Meles & Eugenio D'Angelo & Lucia Michela Daniele, 2019. "Sustainable development and corporate governance in the financial system: Are environmentally friendly banks less risky?," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(3), pages 529-547, May.
    5. Melloni, Gaia, 2020. "Climate change reporting: a commentary on key issues," Die Unternehmung - Swiss Journal of Business Research and Practice, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 74(3), pages 312-323.
    6. Andrieș, Alin Marius & Sprincean, Nicu, 2023. "ESG performance and banks’ funding costs," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    7. Silvana Secinaro & Valerio Brescia & Davide Calandra & Buerhan Saiti, 2020. "Impact of climate change mitigation policies on corporate financial performance: Evidence‐based on European publicly listed firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2491-2501, November.
    8. Li, Ruonan & Lu, Feng & Xu, Jun & Chen, Kai & Zhao, Xiaoli, 2023. "Effect of carbon information disclosure with consistent evaluation standards: An empirical study about carbon efficiency label in Huzhou China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C).
    9. Patrick Velte, 2021. "Environmental performance, carbon performance and earnings management: Empirical evidence for the European capital market," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(1), pages 42-53, January.
    10. Wullianallur Raghupathi & Dominik Molitor & Viju Raghupathi & Aditya Saharia, 2023. "Identifying Key Issues in Climate Change Litigation: A Machine Learning Text Analytic Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-30, December.
    11. Patrick Velte, 2023. "Sustainable institutional investors, corporate sustainability performance, and corporate tax avoidance: Empirical evidence for the European capital market," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2406-2418, September.
    12. Doga Izcan & Eralp Bektas, 2022. "The Relationship between ESG Scores and Firm-Specific Risk of Eurozone Banks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-21, July.
    13. Francesco Gangi & Mario Mustilli & Lucia Michela Daniele & Maria Coscia, 2022. "The sustainable development of the aerospace industry: Drivers and impact of corporate environmental responsibility," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 218-235, January.
    14. repec:ers:journl:v:xxiv:y:2021:i:2b:p:979-993 is not listed on IDEAS
    15. Hanna Czaja-Cieszynska, 2021. "Determination Climate-Related Information Reporting on the Example of Selected Polish Listed Companies," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(2 - Part ), pages 979-993.
    16. Chia‐Chi Lee & Shih‐Yun Kuo & Huang‐Hsiung Hsu & Tung‐Li Mo & En‐Yu Chang & Kuan‐Chun Huang, 2023. "How does the research community contribute to corporate climate‐related risk disclosures? The gap between ideals and reality," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(2), pages 927-940, March.
    17. Annabelle Braasch & Patrick Velte, 2023. "Climate reporting quality following the recommendations of the task force on climate‐related financial disclosures: A Focus on the German capital market," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 31(2), pages 926-940, April.
    18. Alexandre Rafael Barbosa Castilho & Simone Ruchdi Barakat, 2022. "The relationship between climate change mitigation strategies and the financial performance of Brazilian companies," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(4), pages 1294-1305, August.
    19. Stefano Caiazza & Giuseppe Galloppo & Gabriele Lattanzio, 2023. "Industrial accidents: The mediating effect of corporate social responsibility and environmental policy measures," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(3), pages 1191-1203, May.
    20. Caby, Jérôme & Ziane, Ydriss & Lamarque, Eric, 2020. "The determinants of voluntary climate change disclosure commitment and quality in the banking industry," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    21. Elahi, Ehsan & Khalid, Zainab & Zhang, Zhixin, 2022. "Understanding farmers’ intention and willingness to install renewable energy technology: A solution to reduce the environmental emissions of agriculture," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 309(C).
    22. Simona Galletta & Sebastiano Mazzù & Valeria Naciti, 2021. "Banks' business strategy and environmental effectiveness: The monitoring role of the board of directors and the managerial incentives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2656-2670, July.
    23. Khaled Alsaifi & Marwa Elnahass & Abdullah M. Al-Awadhi & Aly Salama, 2022. "Carbon disclosure and firm risk: evidence from the UK corporate responses to climate change," Eurasian Business Review, Springer;Eurasia Business and Economics Society, vol. 12(3), pages 505-526, September.
    24. Ozgur Isil & Rose Sebastianelli, 2020. "Arcs of carbon awareness in the value chain and their antecedents," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 503-518, February.
    25. Giovanni Zampone & Giuseppe Sannino & Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez, 2023. "Exploring the moderating effects of corporate social responsibility performance under mimetic pressures. An international analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(1), pages 53-65, January.

    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. Grigoris Giannarakis & Eleni Zafeiriou & Nikolaos Sariannidis, 2017. "The Impact of Carbon Performance on Climate Change Disclosure," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(8), pages 1078-1094, December.
    2. Camélia Radu & Claude Francoeur, 2017. "Does Innovation Drive Environmental Disclosure? A New Insight into Sustainable Development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(7), pages 893-911, November.
    3. X. Meng & S. Zeng & C. Tam, 2013. "From Voluntarism to Regulation: A Study on Ownership, Economic Performance and Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 217-232, August.
    4. Bart Manning & Geert Braam & Daniel Reimsbach, 2019. "Corporate governance and sustainable business conduct—Effects of board monitoring effectiveness and stakeholder engagement on corporate sustainability performance and disclosure choices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(2), pages 351-366, March.
    5. Dong Ding & Bin Liu & Millicent Chang, 2023. "Carbon Emissions and TCFD Aligned Climate-Related Information Disclosures," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(4), pages 967-1001, February.
    6. Grigoris Giannarakis & Andreas Andronikidis & Nikolaos Sariannidis, 2020. "Determinants of environmental disclosure: investigating new and conventional corporate governance characteristics," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 294(1), pages 87-105, November.
    7. My Hanh Doan & Remmer Sassen, 2020. "The relationship between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: A meta‐analysis," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 24(5), pages 1140-1157, October.
    8. 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.
    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. Luo, Le & Tang, Qingliang, 2014. "Does voluntary carbon disclosure reflect underlying carbon performance?," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(3), pages 191-205.
    11. Jiang, Yan & Luo, Le & Xu, JianFeng & Shao, XiaoRui, 2021. "The value relevance of corporate voluntary carbon disclosure: Evidence from the United States and BRIC countries," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(3).
    12. 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.
    13. Qian, Wei & Schaltegger, Stefan, 2017. "Revisiting carbon disclosure and performance: Legitimacy and management views," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 365-379.
    14. Hichem Khlif & Kamran Ahmed & Mohsen Souissi, 2017. "Ownership structure and voluntary disclosure: A synthesis of empirical studies," Australian Journal of Management, Australian School of Business, vol. 42(3), pages 376-403, August.
    15. Ntim, Collins G., 2016. "Corporate governance, corporate health accounting, and firm value: The case of HIV/AIDS disclosures in Sub-Saharan Africa," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 155-216.
    16. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang & Juan Peng, 2018. "The direct and moderating effects of power distance on carbon transparency: An international investigation of cultural value and corporate social responsibility," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1546-1557, December.
    17. Stefano Fontana & Daniela Coluccia & Silvia Solimene, 2019. "VAIC as a Tool for Measuring Intangibles Value in Voluntary Multi-Stakeholder Disclosure," Journal of the Knowledge Economy, Springer;Portland International Center for Management of Engineering and Technology (PICMET), vol. 10(4), pages 1679-1699, December.
    18. Gary Peters & Andrea Romi, 2014. "Does the Voluntary Adoption of Corporate Governance Mechanisms Improve Environmental Risk Disclosures? Evidence from Greenhouse Gas Emission Accounting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(4), pages 637-666, December.
    19. X. Meng & S. Zeng & C. Tam & X. Xu, 2013. "Whether Top Executives’ Turnover Influences Environmental Responsibility: From the Perspective of Environmental Information Disclosure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 114(2), pages 341-353, May.
    20. Denis Cormier & Pascale Lapointe-Antunes & Michel Magnan, 2015. "Does corporate governance enhance the appreciation of mandatory environmental disclosure by financial markets?," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 19(4), pages 897-925, November.

    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:wly:corsem:v:25:y:2018:i:3:p:281-294. 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: https://doi.org/10.1002/(ISSN)1535-3966 .

    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.