IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v26y2017i7p893-911.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Does Innovation Drive Environmental Disclosure? A New Insight into Sustainable Development

Author

Listed:
  • Camélia Radu
  • Claude Francoeur

Abstract

Sustainable development is a hot topic in business and the media, and there is a growing demand for reliable environmental disclosure from a wide range of stakeholders. Ethical performance, including social and environmental performance, is actively scrutinized. A firm's stakeholders expect reliable disclosure to correctly assess its performance. Research on the link between environmental disclosure and environmental performance shows mixed results. Both a positive and a negative association have been found. This study reexamines this association by considering environmental innovation as a key determinant of environmental disclosure. We find that environmental performance and environmental innovation jointly determine environmental disclosure. At low levels of environmental performance, innovative firms tend to disclose more than their non‐innovative counterparts to inform stakeholders about their innovation and strategy to obtain an improved environmental performance. This disclosure gap tends to diminish as innovative firms become better environmental performers. The higher levels of environmental disclosure are closely associated with firms' environmental performance for both groups. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:26:y:2017:i:7:p:893-911
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.1950
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.1950
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.1950?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. Roger L. Burritt, 2002. "Environmental reporting in Australia: current practices and issues for the future," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(6), pages 391-406, November.
    2. Sónia Maria da Silva Monteiro & Beatriz Aibar‐Guzmán, 2010. "Determinants of environmental disclosure in the annual reports of large companies operating in Portugal," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 185-204, July.
    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. Paul Lanoie, 2008. "When And Why Does It Pay To Be Green?," CIRANO Papers 2008n-02a, CIRANO.
    5. Nigel Roome, 1992. "Developing environmental management strategies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 1(1), pages 11-24, March.
    6. David Campbell, 2003. "Intra‐ and intersectoral effects in environmental disclosures: evidence for legitimacy theory?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(6), pages 357-371, November.
    7. René Orij, 2010. "Corporate social disclosures in the context of national cultures and stakeholder theory," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(7), pages 868-889, September.
    8. 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.
    9. Aerts, Walter & Cormier, Denis, 2009. "Media legitimacy and corporate environmental communication," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 1-27, January.
    10. 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.
    11. 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.
    12. Carrión-Flores, Carmen E. & Innes, Robert, 2010. "Environmental innovation and environmental performance," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 59(1), pages 27-42, January.
    13. Yunhee Kim, 2015. "Environmental, Sustainable Behaviors and Innovation of Firms During the Financial Crisis," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(1), pages 58-72, January.
    14. Wagner, Marcus, 2007. "On the relationship between environmental management, environmental innovation and patenting: Evidence from German manufacturing firms," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 36(10), pages 1587-1602, December.
    15. 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.
    16. Ali Fekrat, M. & Inclan, Carla & Petroni, David, 1996. "Corporate environmental disclosures: Competitive disclosure hypothesis using 1991 annual report data," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 31(2), pages 175-195.
    17. 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.
    18. Ingram, Rw & Frazier, Kb, 1980. "Environmental Performance And Corporate Disclosure," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 614-622.
    19. 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.
    20. 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.
    21. Aris Solomon & Linda Lewis, 2002. "Incentives and disincentives for corporate environmental disclosure," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(3), pages 154-169, May.
    22. Cho, Charles H. & Roberts, Robin W. & Patten, Dennis M., 2010. "The language of US corporate environmental disclosure," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 431-443, May.
    23. Daniel J. Tschopp, 2005. "Corporate social responsibility: a comparison between the United States and the European Union," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 12(1), pages 55-59, March.
    24. Dye, Ra, 1985. "Disclosure Of Nonproprietary Information," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(1), pages 123-145.
    25. 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.
    26. Cormier, Denis & Magnan, Michel, 2003. "Environmental reporting management: a continental European perspective," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(1), pages 43-62.
    27. Despina Galani & Efthymios Gravas & Antonios Stavropoulos, 2012. "Company Characteristics and Environmental Policy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(4), pages 236-247, May.
    28. Cedric Dawkins & John Fraas, 2011. "Coming Clean: The Impact of Environmental Performance and Visibility on Corporate Climate Change Disclosure," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 100(2), pages 303-322, May.
    29. David Popp, 2002. "Induced Innovation and Energy Prices," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 92(1), pages 160-180, March.
    30. Alan Murray & Donald Sinclair & David Power & Rob Gray, 2006. "Do financial markets care about social and environmental disclosure?: Further evidence and exploration from the UK," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 19(2), pages 228-255, February.
    31. 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.
    32. 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.
    33. Derek De Solla Price, 1976. "A general theory of bibliometric and other cumulative advantage processes," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 27(5), pages 292-306, September.
    34. 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.
    35. 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.
    36. 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.
    37. Verrecchia, Robert E., 1983. "Discretionary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 179-194, April.
    38. Siv Nyquist, 2003. "The legislation of environmental disclosures in three Nordic countries—a comparison," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(1), pages 12-25, January.
    39. Denis Cormier & Michel Magnan, 2015. "The Economic Relevance of Environmental Disclosure and its Impact on Corporate Legitimacy: An Empirical Investigation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 431-450, September.
    40. Marcus Wagner, 2009. "National culture, regulation and country interaction effects on the association of environmental management systems with environmentally beneficial innovation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(2), pages 122-136, February.
    41. Brunnermeier, Smita B. & Cohen, Mark A., 2003. "Determinants of environmental innovation in US manufacturing industries," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 45(2), pages 278-293, March.
    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. Zaman, Rashid & Atawnah, Nader & Haseeb, Muhammad & Nadeem, Muhammad & Irfan, Saadia, 2021. "Does corporate eco-innovation affect stock price crash risk?," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(5).
    2. Nguyen, Dat Thanh & Tran, Vuong Thao & Phan, Dinh Hoang Bach, 2023. "Does green activity impact stock price crash risk? The role of climate risk," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 55(PA).
    3. Isabel-María García-Sánchez & Nicola Raimo & Filippo Vitolla, 2021. "Are Environmentally Innovative Companies Inclined towards Integrated Environmental Disclosure Policies?," Administrative Sciences, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-19, March.
    4. Camélia Radu & Nadia Smaili, 2022. "Alignment Versus Monitoring: An Examination of the Effect of the CSR Committee and CSR-Linked Executive Compensation on CSR Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(1), pages 145-163, September.
    5. Ralph Adler & Mansi Mansi & Rakesh Pandey, 2022. "Accounting for waste management: a study of the reporting practices of the top listed Indian companies," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(2), pages 2401-2437, June.
    6. Isabel Gallego‐Álvarez & María Consuelo Pucheta‐Martínez, 2020. "How cultural dimensions, legal systems, and industry affect environmental reporting? Empirical evidence from an international perspective," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 2037-2057, July.
    7. Iman Harymawan & Fajar Kristanto Gautama Putra & Tanaya Devi Kemala Agni & Khairul Anuar Kamarudin, 2020. "Sustainability Report Practices in Indonesia: Context, Policy, and Readability," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(3), pages 438-443.
    8. Yu, Ellen Pei-yi & Luu, Bac Van & Chen, Catherine Huirong, 2020. "Greenwashing in environmental, social and governance disclosures," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    9. Samira Demaria & Sandra Rigot, 2021. "Corporate environmental reporting: Are French firms compliant with the Task Force on Climate Financial Disclosures' recommendations?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 721-738, January.
    10. Michael L. Polemis & Thanasis Stengos, 2019. "Does competition prevent industrial pollution? Evidence from a panel threshold model," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 98-110, January.
    11. Zhang, Dongyang, 2022. "Environmental regulation, green innovation, and export product quality: What is the role of greenwashing?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    12. Camélia Radu & Nadia Smaili, 2021. "Corporate performance patterns of Canadian listed firms: Balancing financial and corporate social responsibility outcomes," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3344-3359, November.
    13. Xuemei Xie & Qiwei Zhu & Ruoyi Wang, 2019. "Turning green subsidies into sustainability: How green process innovation improves firms' green image," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(7), pages 1416-1433, November.
    14. Akrum Helfaya & Mark Whittington, 2019. "Does designing environmental sustainability disclosure quality measures make a difference?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(4), pages 525-541, May.
    15. Musa Ghazwani & Mark Whittington & Akrum Helfaya, 2023. "Assessing the Anti-Corruption Disclosure Practices in the UK FTSE 100 Extractive Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(6), pages 1-33, March.
    16. Manuel Bueno‐Garcia & Alejandro Ortiz‐Perez & Elena Mellado‐Garcia, 2021. "Shareholders' environmental profile and its impact on firm's environmental proactivity: An institutional approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 374-387, January.
    17. Ricardo Pinto & Isabel Lourenço & Ana Simões, 2022. "Does Innovation Spur Integrated Reporting?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(1), pages 1-20, 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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Denis Cormier & Michel Magnan, 2015. "The Economic Relevance of Environmental Disclosure and its Impact on Corporate Legitimacy: An Empirical Investigation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(6), pages 431-450, September.
    4. Abeer Hassan & Essam Ibrahim, 2012. "Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure: Factors Influencing Companies' Success in Attaining Environmental Awards," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 19(1), pages 32-46, January.
    5. Mahoney, Lois S. & Thorne, Linda & Cecil, Lianna & LaGore, William, 2013. "A research note on standalone corporate social responsibility reports: Signaling or greenwashing?," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 24(4), pages 350-359.
    6. 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.
    7. Aerts, Walter & Cormier, Denis, 2009. "Media legitimacy and corporate environmental communication," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 1-27, January.
    8. Isabel Gallego‐Álvarez, 2018. "Assessing corporate environmental issues in international companies: A study of explanatory factors," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1284-1294, December.
    9. 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.
    10. Jean-Noël Chauvey & Sophie Giordano-Spring & Charles Cho & Dennis Patten, 2015. "The Normativity and Legitimacy of CSR Disclosure: Evidence from France," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 130(4), pages 789-803, September.
    11. Sónia Maria da Silva Monteiro & Beatriz Aibar‐Guzmán, 2010. "Determinants of environmental disclosure in the annual reports of large companies operating in Portugal," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 17(4), pages 185-204, July.
    12. 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.
    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. 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.
    15. Denis Cormier & Marie-Josée Ledoux & Michel Magnan, 2010. "The Informational Contribution of Social and Environmental Disclosures for Investors," Post-Print hal-00481571, HAL.
    16. Michelon, Giovanna & Pilonato, Silvia & Ricceri, Federica, 2015. "CSR reporting practices and the quality of disclosure: An empirical analysis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 59-78.
    17. 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.
    18. Charles H. Cho & Martin Freedman & Dennis M. Patten, 2009. "Corporate Disclosure Of Environmental Capital Expenditures: A Test Of Alternative Theories," Post-Print halshs-00459410, HAL.
    19. 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.
    20. Steven F. Cahan & Charl De Villiers & Debra C. Jeter & Vic Naiker & Chris J. Van Staden, 2016. "Are CSR Disclosures Value Relevant? Cross-Country Evidence," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 579-611, September.

    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:bla:bstrat:v:26:y:2017:i:7:p:893-911. 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: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    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.