IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/finana/v96y2024ipbs1057521924006744.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

ESG-washing detection in corporate sustainability reports

Author

Listed:
  • Lagasio, Valentina

Abstract

This study introduces the ESG-washing Severity Index (ESGSI) for quantitatively assessing discrepancies between portrayed and actual sustainability practices in corporate disclosures. Using advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) techniques, we analyze sustainability reports from 749 listed companies, integrating sentiment analysis with the frequency of sustainability terms to calculate the ESGSI. Our findings reveal significant variation in ESG-washing practices across industries and geographical regions. The ESGSI serves as a critical tool for stakeholders and policymakers, highlighting the need for stricter sustainability reporting standards and more effective regulatory frameworks to combat ESG-washing. This study contributes to the growing body of literature on corporate sustainability and provides practical implications for investors, corporate managers, and policymakers in evaluating and improving ESG practices and disclosures.

Suggested Citation

  • Lagasio, Valentina, 2024. "ESG-washing detection in corporate sustainability reports," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PB).
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:finana:v:96:y:2024:i:pb:s1057521924006744
    DOI: 10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103742
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057521924006744
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.irfa.2024.103742?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. Robert F Engle & Stefano Giglio & Bryan Kelly & Heebum Lee & Johannes Stroebel, 2020. "Hedging Climate Change News," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1184-1216.
    2. Valentina Lagasio & Nicola Cucari, 2019. "Corporate governance and environmental social governance disclosure: A meta‐analytical review," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(4), pages 701-711, July.
    3. Krüger, Philipp, 2015. "Corporate goodness and shareholder wealth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 304-329.
    4. Hans B. Christensen & Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2021. "Mandatory CSR and sustainability reporting: economic analysis and literature review," Review of Accounting Studies, Springer, vol. 26(3), pages 1176-1248, September.
    5. Thomas P. Lyon & John W. Maxwell, 2011. "Greenwash: Corporate Environmental Disclosure under Threat of Audit," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 20(1), pages 3-41, March.
    6. Liu, Changyu & Wang, Jing & Ji, Qiang & Zhang, Dayong, 2024. "To be green or not to be: How governmental regulation shapes financial institutions' greenwashing behaviors in green finance," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    7. Kleffel, Philipp & Muck, Matthias, 2023. "Aggregate confusion or inner conflict? An experimental analysis of investors’ reaction to greenwashing," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 53(C).
    8. Teti, Emanuele & Etro, Leonardo L. & Pausini, Lorenzo, 2024. "Does greenwashing affect Company's stock Price? Evidence from Europe," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    9. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2016. "Textual Analysis in Accounting and Finance: A Survey," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 54(4), pages 1187-1230, September.
    10. Eun-Hee Kim & Thomas P. Lyon, 2015. "Greenwash vs. Brownwash: Exaggeration and Undue Modesty in Corporate Sustainability Disclosure," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 26(3), pages 705-723, June.
    11. Philipp Krueger & Zacharias Sautner & Laura T Starks, 2020. "The Importance of Climate Risks for Institutional Investors," The Review of Financial Studies, Society for Financial Studies, vol. 33(3), pages 1067-1111.
    12. Florian Berg & Julian F Kölbel & Roberto Rigobon, 2022. "Aggregate Confusion: The Divergence of ESG Ratings [Corporate social responsibility and firm risk: theory and empirical evidence]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 26(6), pages 1315-1344.
    13. Liu, Zhuang & Li, Xingyi, 2024. "The impact of bank fintech on ESG greenwashing," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 62(PB).
    14. Tim Loughran & Bill Mcdonald, 2011. "When Is a Liability Not a Liability? Textual Analysis, Dictionaries, and 10‐Ks," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 66(1), pages 35-65, February.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Kyriaki Kosmidou & Dimitrios Kousenidis & Anestis Ladas & Christos Negkakis, 2024. "Climate‐related performance and stock price crash risk," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 33(2), pages 113-148, May.
    2. Li, Chao & Keeley, Alexander Ryota & Takeda, Shutaro & Seki, Daikichi & Managi, Shunsuke, 2024. "Investor’s ESG Tendency Probed by Pre-trained Transformers," MPRA Paper 122756, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Giannetti, Mariassunta & Jasova, Martina & Loumioti, Maria & Mendicino, Caterina, 2023. "“Glossy green” banks: the disconnect between environmental disclosures and lending activities," Working Paper Series 2882, European Central Bank.
    4. Faccini, Renato & Matin, Rastin & Skiadopoulos, George, 2023. "Dissecting climate risks: Are they reflected in stock prices?," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    5. Roman Kräussl & Tobi Oladiran & Denitsa Stefanova, 2024. "A review on ESG investing: Investors’ expectations, beliefs and perceptions," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 476-502, April.
    6. Koo, KwangJoo (KJ) & Kim, Jae B., 2025. "Managerial pessimism and investment in corporate social responsibility," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    7. Mingying Cheng & Joseph A. Micale, 2022. "ESG Risks and the Value Relevance of Current and Historical Earnings," Financial Markets, Institutions & Instruments, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 207-237, December.
    8. Caroline Flammer & Michael W. Toffel & Kala Viswanathan, 2021. "Shareholder activism and firms' voluntary disclosure of climate change risks," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(10), pages 1850-1879, October.
    9. Pruthiranjan Dwibedi & Debasis Pahi & Antarjyami Sahu, 2024. "Mapping the landscape of environmental, social and governance research: A bibliometric analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(5), pages 3745-3767, September.
    10. Bingler, Julia Anna & Kraus, Mathias & Leippold, Markus & Webersinke, Nicolas, 2024. "How cheap talk in climate disclosures relates to climate initiatives, corporate emissions, and reputation risk," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    11. Giglio, Stefano & Maggiori, Matteo & Ströbel, Johannes & Tan, Zhenhao & Utkus, Stephen & Xu, Xiao, 2023. "Four Facts about ESG Beliefs and Investor Portfolios," CEPR Discussion Papers 18052, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    12. Ge, Xiaowen & Xue, Minggao & Cao, Ruiyi, 2024. "Do Chinese carbon-intensive stocks overreact to climate transition risk? Evidence from the COP26 news," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. Marupanthorn, Pasin & Nikitopoulos, Christina S. & Ofosu-Hene, Eric D. & Peters, Gareth W. & Richards, Kylie-Anne, 2024. "Mechanisms for implementing fossil fuel divestment in portfolio management with impact on risk, return and carbon reduction," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 136(C).
    14. Shira Cohen & Igor Kadach & Gaizka Ormazabal & Stefan Reichelstein, 2023. "Executive Compensation Tied to ESG Performance: International Evidence," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 805-853, June.
    15. Darendeli, Alper & Fiechter, Peter & Hitz, Jörg-Markus & Lehmann, Nico, 2022. "The role of corporate social responsibility (CSR) information in supply-chain contracting: Evidence from the expansion of CSR rating coverage," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(2).
    16. Alexander Dyck & Karl V. Lins & Lukas Roth & Mitch Towner & Hannes F. Wagner, 2023. "Renewable Governance: Good for the Environment?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(1), pages 279-327, March.
    17. Yusuf Babatunde Adeneye & Setareh Fasihi & Ines Kammoun & Khaldoon Albitar, 2024. "Does earnings management constrain ESG performance? The role of corporate governance," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 21(1), pages 69-92, March.
    18. Wesley Friske & Seth A. Hoelscher & Atanas Nik Nikolov, 2023. "The impact of voluntary sustainability reporting on firm value: Insights from signaling theory," Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science, Springer, vol. 51(2), pages 372-392, March.
    19. Horn, Matthias & Oehler, Andreas, 2024. "Constructing stock portfolios by sorting on ESG ratings: Does the rating provider matter?," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 96(PA).
    20. Berkman, Henk & Jona, Jonathan & Soderstrom, Naomi, 2024. "Firm-specific climate risk and market valuation," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 112(C).

    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:eee:finana:v:96:y:2024:i:pb:s1057521924006744. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/inca/620166 .

    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.