IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/kap/jbuset/v182y2023i2d10.1007_s10551-021-05007-8.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Public Effect of Private Sustainability Reporting: Evidence from Incident-Based Engagement Strategy

Author

Listed:
  • Natalia Semenova

    (Linnaeus University)

Abstract

This study examines whether private information exchange between institutional investors and public companies in engagement dialogs on sustainability issues improves the publicly disclosed measurements of the target company’s financial and non-financial performance and transparency. It uses a unique dataset containing 326 private reports related to environmental, social, and anti-corruption recommendations to address material incidents among publicly traded MSCI World Index portfolio companies of Nordic institutional investors. The results indicate that target companies appear to have similar values with matched companies on sustainability performance and transparency ratings in the 3 years following the initiation of private reporting. Unexpected sustainability incidents are subsequently reflected in the next year’s fall in the market value of target companies relative to MSCI World Index. This paper provides empirical evidence for the legitimacy-based provision of private sustainability information used in a larger disclosure system of public companies.

Suggested Citation

  • Natalia Semenova, 2023. "The Public Effect of Private Sustainability Reporting: Evidence from Incident-Based Engagement Strategy," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 182(2), pages 559-572, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:kap:jbuset:v:182:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-021-05007-8
    DOI: 10.1007/s10551-021-05007-8
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10551-021-05007-8
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s10551-021-05007-8?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. Nadja Guenster & Rob Bauer & Jeroen Derwall & Kees Koedijk, 2011. "The Economic Value of Corporate Eco†Efficiency," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 17(4), pages 679-704, September.
    2. Aerts, Walter & Cormier, Denis, 2009. "Media legitimacy and corporate environmental communication," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 34(1), pages 1-27, January.
    3. Krüger, Philipp, 2015. "Corporate goodness and shareholder wealth," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(2), pages 304-329.
    4. Muhammad Islam & Craig Deegan, 2010. "Media pressures and corporate disclosure of social responsibility performance information: A study of two global clothing and sports retail companies," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 40(2), pages 131-148.
    5. Alon Brav & Wei Jiang & Frank Partnoy & Randall Thomas, 2008. "Hedge Fund Activism, Corporate Governance, and Firm Performance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 63(4), pages 1729-1775, August.
    6. repec:eme:aaaj00:09513570610679137 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Guercio, Diane Del & Hawkins, Jennifer, 1999. "The motivation and impact of pension fund activism," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 52(3), pages 293-340, June.
    8. Fiaschi, Davide & Giuliani, Elisa & Nieri, Federica & Salvati, Nicola, 2020. "How bad is your company? Measuring corporate wrongdoing beyond the magic of ESG metrics," Business Horizons, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 287-299.
    9. Dennis M. Patten, 2002. "Media exposure, public policy pressure, and environmental disclosure: an examination of the impact of tri data availability," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 26(2), pages 152-171, June.
    10. repec:bla:jfinan:v:53:y:1998:i:4:p:1335-1362 is not listed on IDEAS
    11. 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.
    12. Jill F. Solomon & Aris Solomon & Simon D. Norton & Nathan L. Joseph, 2011. "Private climate change reporting: an emerging discourse of risk and opportunity?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(8), pages 1119-1148, October.
    13. Jill F. Solomon & Lauren Darby, 2005. "Is private social, ethical and environmental reporting mythicizing or demythologizing reality?," Accounting Forum, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 27-47, March.
    14. Jill Frances Solomon & Aris Solomon, 2006. "Private social, ethical and environmental disclosure," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 19(4), pages 564-591, July.
    15. Mark P. Sharfman & Chitru S. Fernando, 2008. "Environmental risk management and the cost of capital," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 569-592, June.
    16. Noel Brown & Craig Deegan, 1998. "The public disclosure of environmental performance information—a dual test of media agenda setting theory and legitimacy theory," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 29(1), pages 21-41.
    17. 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.
    18. Solomon, Jill F. & Solomon, Aris & Joseph, Nathan L. & Norton, Simon D., 2013. "Impression management, myth creation and fabrication in private social and environmental reporting: Insights from Erving Goffman," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 38(3), pages 195-213.
    19. Stephen J. Brammer & Stephen Pavelin, 2006. "Corporate Reputation and Social Performance: The Importance of Fit," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 435-455, May.
    20. Jeanne Logsdon & Harry Buren, 2009. "Beyond the Proxy Vote: Dialogues Between Shareholder Activists and Corporations," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(1), pages 353-365, April.
    21. Marco Becht & Julian Franks & Colin Mayer & Stefano Rossi, 2010. "Returns to Shareholder Activism: Evidence from a Clinical Study of the Hermes UK Focus Fund," NBER Chapters, in: Corporate Governance, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    22. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Alon Brav & Wei Jiang, 2015. "The Long-Term Effects of Hedge Fund Activism," NBER Working Papers 21227, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    23. repec:eme:aaaj00:09513571111184788 is not listed on IDEAS
    24. Erin M. Reid & Michael W. Toffel, 2009. "Responding to public and private politics: corporate disclosure of climate change strategies," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(11), pages 1157-1178, November.
    25. Erin Marie Reid & Michael W. Toffel, 2008. "Responding to Public and Private Politics: Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Strategies," Harvard Business School Working Papers 09-019, Harvard Business School, revised Jun 2009.
    26. Renata Blanc & Muhammad Azizul Islam & Dennis M. Patten & Manuel Castelo Branco, 2017. "Corporate anti-corruption disclosure," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 30(8), pages 1746-1770, October.
    27. Parthiban David & Matt Bloom & Amy J. Hillman, 2007. "Investor activism, managerial responsiveness, and corporate social performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 91-100, January.
    28. Kathleen Rehbein & Jeanne Logsdon & Harry Buren, 2013. "Corporate Responses to Shareholder Activists: Considering the Dialogue Alternative," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(1), pages 137-154, January.
    29. Smith, Michael P, 1996. "Shareholder Activism by Institutional Investors: Evidence for CalPERS," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 51(1), pages 227-252, 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. Ivan Diaz-Rainey & Paul A. Griffin & David H. Lont & Antonio J. Mateo-Márquez & Constancio Zamora-Ramírez, 2024. "Shareholder Activism on Climate Change: Evolution, Determinants, and Consequences," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 193(3), pages 481-510, September.

    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. Natalia Semenova, 2020. "Company Receptivity in Private Dialogue on Sustainability Risks," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(2), pages 1-14, January.
    2. Simon Rafaqat & Sana Rafaqat & Sahil Rafaqat & Saoul Rafaqat & Dawood Rafaqat, 2023. "Shareholder Activism and Firm Performance: A Review," Journal of Economics and Behavioral Studies, AMH International, vol. 14(4), pages 31-41.
    3. Tamas Barko & Martijn Cremers & Luc Renneboog, 2022. "Shareholder Engagement on Environmental, Social, and Governance Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 180(2), pages 777-812, October.
    4. Maria Goranova & Rahi Abouk & Paul C. Nystrom & Ehsan S. Soofi, 2017. "Corporate governance antecedents to shareholder activism: A zero-inflated process," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(2), pages 415-435, February.
    5. Mark R. DesJardine & Rodolphe Durand, 2020. "Disentangling the effects of hedge fund activism on firm financial and social performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 41(6), pages 1054-1082, June.
    6. Natalia Semenova, 2021. "Management control systems in response to social and environmental risk in large Nordic companies," International Journal of Corporate Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 6(1), pages 1-11, December.
    7. Breeda Comyns, 2016. "Determinants of GHG Reporting: An Analysis of Global Oil and Gas Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(2), pages 349-369, June.
    8. 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.
    9. Mohamed Chelli & Sylvain Durocher & Anne Fortin, 2018. "Normativity in Environmental Reporting: A Comparison of Three Regimes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 285-311, May.
    10. Michelon, Giovanna & Rodrigue, Michelle & Trevisan, Elisabetta, 2020. "The marketization of a social movement: Activists, shareholders and CSR disclosure," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 80(C).
    11. Barros, Victor & Guedes, Maria João & Santos, Joana & Sarmento, Joaquim Miranda, 2023. "Shareholder activism and firms’ performance," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 64(C).
    12. Pascal Back & Oskar Colombo, 2022. "Shaping CEOs’ future focus through shareholder activism: the role of proposal characteristics," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 26(1), pages 255-286, March.
    13. Hadani, Michael & Doh, Jonathan P. & Schneider, Marguerite, 2019. "Social movements and corporate political activity: Managerial responses to socially oriented shareholder activism," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 156-170.
    14. Denes, Matthew R. & Karpoff, Jonathan M. & McWilliams, Victoria B., 2017. "Thirty years of shareholder activism: A survey of empirical research," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 44(C), pages 405-424.
    15. Kim, Woochan & Sung, Taeyoon & Wei, Shang-Jin, 2017. "The diffusion of corporate governance to emerging markets: Evaluating two dimensions of investor heterogeneity," Journal of International Money and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 406-432.
    16. Renneboog, L.D.R. & Szilagyi, P.G., 2009. "Shareholder Activism through the Proxy Process," Other publications TiSEM cc25d736-2965-4511-b100-1, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    17. Hadani, Michael & Goranova, Maria & Khan, Raihan, 2011. "Institutional investors, shareholder activism, and earnings management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 64(12), pages 1352-1360.
    18. Jiang, George J. & Liu, Chang, 2021. "Getting on board: The monitoring effect of institutional directors," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    19. Jennifer Goodman & Céline Louche & Katinka Cranenburgh & Daniel Arenas, 2014. "Social Shareholder Engagement: The Dynamics of Voice and Exit," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(2), pages 193-210, December.
    20. Thomas Smythe & Chris McNeil & Philip English, 2015. "When does CalPERS’ activism add value?," Journal of Economics and Finance, Springer;Academy of Economics and Finance, vol. 39(4), pages 641-660, October.

    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:kap:jbuset:v:182:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s10551-021-05007-8. 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: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    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.