Stakeholder Relevance for Reporting

TLDR

Stakeholder theory is widely accepted in environmental disclosure research, yet empirical evidence on stakeholder influence in firms’ carbon disclosure remains limited. This study investigates the role of stakeholders in firms’ carbon disclosure. Using 1,120 firms (3,631 firm‑year observations) from the CDP Global 500, S&P 500, and FTSE 350 between 2008 and 2011, the authors employ Tobit regressions to examine how government, public, media, employees, and customers influence carbon disclosure. The analysis shows that all stakeholder groups are linked to carbon disclosure, with government uniquely moderating the link between carbon performance and disclosure, while carbon performance—not industry intensity—moderates the effect of stakeholder relevance on disclosure.

Abstract

Although stakeholder theory is widely accepted in environmental disclosure research, empirical evidence about the role of stakeholders in firms’ disclosure is still scarce. The authors address this issue for a setting of carbon disclosure. Our international sample comprises the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) Global 500, S&P 500, and FTSE 350 reports from 2008 to 2011, resulting in a total of 1,120 firms with 3,631 firm-year observations. The authors apply Tobit regressions to analyze the relationship between carbon disclosure and the relevance of the following stakeholder groups: government, general public, media, employees, and customers. Our results confirm that in addition to carbon performance, all stakeholders are associated with carbon disclosure. Only one stakeholder group (government) acts as a moderator for the relationship between carbon performance and carbon disclosure. Furthermore, the authors find that carbon performance but not the affiliation to a carbon-intensive industry acts as a moderator between stakeholder relevance and carbon disclosure.