Activism Boosts Firms’ Disclosure on Climate Change
Shareholder activism and the threat of regulation appear to boost the likelihood of fuller disclosure of companies’ policies and actions related to climate change, a new study* finds.
The challenges associated with climate change will require governments, citizens, and corporations to work collaboratively to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, a task that requires information on companies’ emissions levels, risks, and reduction opportunities, the paper’s authors write.
The study finds “strong support for our hypotheses that firms are more likely to acquiesce to a shareholder request if they or other firms in their industry have already been targeted by a shareholder action on a related issue.”
We also show that political context affects the success of private politics, in that firms under threat of regulation are more likely to acquiesce to a shareholder request.
“These findings extend existing theory by showing how organizational change can be sparked by both activist groups and government policymakers, and that challenges mounted against a single firm (and industry) can inspire field-level (and state-level) changes.”
*Responding to Public and Private Politics: Corporate Disclosure of Climate Change Strategies - by Erin M. Reid and Michael W. Toffel, Harvard Business School.
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