Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing

Christopher Marquis (), Michael Toffel and Yanhua Zhou ()
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Christopher Marquis: School of Management, Cornell University
Yanhua Zhou: Harvard Business School

No 11-115, Harvard Business School Working Papers from Harvard Business School

Abstract: Under increased pressure to report environmental impacts, some firms selectively disclose relatively benign impacts, creating an impression of transparency while masking their true performance. We identify key company- and country-level factors that limit firms' use of selective disclosure by intensifying scrutiny on them and by diffusing global norms to their headquarters countries. We test our hypotheses using a novel panel dataset of 4,750 public companies across many industries and headquartered in 45 countries during 2004-2007. Results show that firms that are more environmentally damaging, particularly those in countries where they are more exposed to scrutiny and global norms, are less likely to engage in selective disclosure. We discuss contributions to the literature that spans institutional theory and strategic management and to the literature on information disclosure.

Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2011-05, Revised 2015-07
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http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/pages/download.aspx?name=11-115.pdf Revised version, 2015 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hbs:wpaper:11-115

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