This study addresses the calls in prior research for evidence on the real effects of preferences for climate change risk by investigating whether companies with opposing externalities—brown versus green companies—adjust their climate-related activities in response to exogenous shocks in public concern for climate change, as reflected in news articles. We find that although brown companies reduce their direct and indirect greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, they do not invest heavily in climate projects, suggesting a preference for cost-effective measures. Further textual analysis reveals that brown companies tend to use less complex stand-alone reports when communicating with external stakeholders. However, although green companies have greater access to low-cost external financial resources during unexpected changes in public concern, we find no evidence that they use these resources to reduce direct GHG emissions. Instead, our findings indicate only limited participation in indirect GHG reduction initiatives, with no significant allocation of these financial resources to dedicated climate projects. This reluctance of green companies to undertake direct GHG reductions is consistent with ongoing anecdotal discussions regarding the challenges of achieving net-zero targets, prompting a call for further research into potential barriers to greener transitions.

Drawing on the shareholder viewpoint adopted by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) to determine materiality, we propose and test a hypothesis for the optimal level of allocating financial resources to projects prioritizing environmental, social, and governance factors, namely sustainability investment. Based on the premise that shareholders consider specific thresholds for sustainability investments, we postulate that shareholders respond positively if the firm's sustainability investments are below the optimal level, whereas they react negatively if the investments are above the optimal level. Using a quadratic and piecewise linear regression, we demonstrate a significant inverted U-shaped linkage between materiality ratings of sustainability and capital investment efficiency for a sample of all U.S. companies listed on ASSET4 spanning from 2008 to 2021. Upon further examination of the sensitivity of the turning point to firm- and market-specific characteristics, we find that leveraged firms and those facing exogenous shocks have a higher optimal level. Our results remain robust across a range of sensitivity tests and offer significant policy implications for regulators and standard setters. These findings can inform the frameworks and guidelines developed by organizations such as the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the SASB, and the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB).

This study investigates the impact of outsiders’ demand for more information (or transparency) on corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Drawing on a dataset of U.S. companies from 2010 to 2023, CSR performance is measured using ASSET4 ratings, while CSR disclosure levels are captured through the number of words and sentences in reports. Utilizing within-industry and -firm OLS regressions, our analyses reveal a positive relationship between the demand for more information and future CSR investments, showing that firms with higher demand for information not only enhance their CSR performance but also expand the length of their CSR reports. These results suggest that increased pressures for information encourage organizations to engage more deeply with social responsibility, resulting in more robust CSR activities and more comprehensive reporting practices. This study contributes to the existing literature by highlighting the strong predictive role of outsiders’ demand for more information in promoting CSR investment and disclosure, and by offering important insights for policymakers and practitioners on fostering corporate responsibility through enhanced transparency.

This paper aims to analyze the moderating role of debt maturity and the mediating role of information asymmetry in the relationship between financial leverage and investment efficiency and to compare the results between firms domiciled in emerging and those headquartered in developed countries. Using two proxies for investment efficiency, the results showed that debt maturity moderates the association between financial leverage and investment efficiency at both levels of developed and emerging countries. This paper also confirmed that information asymmetry carries the influence of financial leverage to investment efficiency only for those enterprises headquartered in emerging countries.

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Utilizing an international setting consisting of 21,039 observations from 43 countries during the years from 2010 to 2019, spanning the period between the global financial and health crises, we first reveal that the two broad legal traditions of the country shape the positive connection between CSR performance and investment efficiency. We find a stronger positive linkage for companies operating under a civil law regime. Our findings also imply that U.S. firms buck the trend among English common law firms and have probably shifted their orientation to a more balanced consideration of stakeholders. Plus, we discover that legal origins are a stronger predictor of CSR perception by showing that stakeholders of the Scandinavian civil law system are more responsive to CSR activities than those in the German, French, and socialist civil law countries. Results are robust to a battery of sensitivity tests.

This study delves into the financial impact of standardized sustainability disclosure on industry-wide risks and opportunities. Focusing on U.S. firms adhering to Sustainability Accounting Standards Board standards, our findings reveal heightened analyst coverage and favorable recommendations. Notably, these recommendations favor buy positions while discouraging sell positions. The research provides ex-post evidence on the financial implications of peer-relative standardized sustainability reporting, highlighting its value relevance for financial analysts’ recommendations.

Purpose This paper aims to examine the association between sustainable development goals (SDGs) at the micro level and firms’ inclination to sustainability reporting and assurance (SRA). Design/methodology/approach The authors use global data from 44 countries in the 2016–2021 period and perform the probit and logistic models in testing the hypotheses. Findings The results show that socially responsible firms adopting SDGs are more likely to issue sustainability reports and obtain assurance statements. The authors find that the link between firms’ compliance with SDGs and SRA is stronger for firms domiciled in stakeholder-oriented countries. Originality/value SRA issues are gaining the attention of regulators, investors, businesses and academics worldwide. Results pertaining to the relationship between SDGs and SRA are robust to alternative measures and several sensitivity tests and, thus, provide policy, practice and research implications.

The novel COVID-19 has created an exogenous shock to capital markets and, hence, an ideal opportunity for researchers to assess whether CSR-related activities provide an insurance-like mechanism to protect firms against the shock. Using a large sample of 4361 firms domiciled in 40 countries, we investigate the roles of CSR reporting and assurance in the negative consequences of COVID-19 on firm value. The results confirm that prior CSR reporting experience buffers firms against the adverse effects of the health crisis. The results also support that not only does the assurance on CSR reports create a buffering effect against the health crisis, but it also intensifies the buffering effects of prior CSR reporting experience against the pandemic. Moreover, using difference-in-difference method for testing the link between CSR reporting and firm value, we show that the positive association of reporting and assurance with firm value is more pronounced during the pandemic as compared with the years preceding it. The results of this study are robust to various analyses. Replicating the analyses to the context of the global financial crisis, we find that prior CSR reporting experience and assurance provide similar buffering effects when a market is exposed to various exogenous shocks. The results also hold for the mandatory disclosure regimes. By distinguishing first and subsequent reports and assurance, we show that, unlike subsequent CSR reports and assurance, the initial ones cannot mitigate the negative effects of the crisis on firm value, indicating that stakeholders take into account longer-term CSR reporting experiences. Aside from reporting and assurance aspects of CSR, we analyze the role of CSR report's quality and accuracy and show that the adoption of Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI) frameworks can enhance socially responsible firms' resilience against systematic shocks.

We examine the level of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sustainability disclosure by firms between two regimes where disclosure is mandatory versus voluntary. We use the regulatory environment between the United States (US) and European Union (EU) to compare ESG disclosures. Firms in the US are currently under a voluntary disclosure regime. In contrast, EU members are under a mandatory disclosure regulatory regime that began in 2017. We find that EU firms outperform US firms under voluntary disclosure requirements (2007–2016), and the ESG disclosure of EU firms further improves relative to US firms after the implementation of the mandatory disclosure in Europe in 2017. Our results suggest that the 2017 adoption of disclosure guidelines in the EU is associated with improvements in EU firms' ESG disclosure. Our results regarding the value-relevance of ESG disclosure support a move toward mandatory ESG disclosures. Results support current initiatives that have been taken by global regulators and stock exchanges in recommending and requiring globally listed companies to disclose their ESG sustainability information to portray accurate and comprehensive corporate reporting. The results further our understanding of how firms from different institutional environment settings may have disclosed their ESG practices, thus providing opportunities for future research.

Using an international setting consisting of 5410 corporations domiciled in 24 countries, we test the insurance-like effect of corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance in the era of the pandemic and confirm that CSR performance increases socially responsible companies' resilience against the adverse effects of the crisis. Comparing stakeholders' responses to CSR activities during the pandemic and normal periods, we observe that the link between CSR performance and firm value is stronger during the crisis period. We also realize that the social aspect of CSR performance is the main driver for the mentioned effects. Finally, comparing the resilience of highly committed socially responsible companies with those with moderate and very low CSR ratings, we observe that best-in-class companies enjoy the greatest buffering effects, implying that the insurance-like effect of CSR performance is non-linear against systematic crises. Findings are robust to ceremonial CSR activities, extreme values of market-based instruments, endogeneity concern, etc.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the relation between debt structure and future external financing and investment. Furthermore, it aims to analyze the association between debt structure and future financial performance.Design/methodology/approachVolume, maturity, possessing collateral and having priority at the settlement date are the dimensions of debt structure that have been employed in this paper. The sample consists of 1,060 firm-year observations from Tehran Stock Exchange corporations during the period 2009–2018.FindingsThe findings reveal that greater reliance on financial leverage (debt volume) and short-term debt are associated with increases in future debt financing as well as future equity financing. Moreover, these two dimensions of debt structure are positively related to future investment. This paper also shows that the positive impact of financial leverage and short-term debt on future financing and investment can finally lead to a favorable financial performance. Regarding other dimensions of debt structure, the results suggest that although collateralized debt with the priority option at the settlement date enhances future external financing, this type of debt can ultimately lead to a reduction in future investment and financial performance. Finally, the findings indicate that uncollateralized debt exacerbates future financial performance.Research limitations/implicationsFinancial performance can be affected by several factors, including available funds, investment amount, investment efficiency and managerial capability. However, this paper only considers the investment amount and external financing as the channels through which debt structure improves future financial performance. This study has the potential to contribute to one of the most important issues in finance and business fields, despite its probable trivial drawbacks.Practical implicationsFinancing strategies as one of the most controversial topics have been meticulously scrutinized in this paper and practical implications are made to facilitate the process of decision-making regarding the optimal type of debt financing.Originality/valueThis study extends the literature by analyzing the direct link between debt structure and firm performance in firms domiciled in developing markets.

PurposePrevious literature posits that corporate governance and information asymmetry are the main factors in making efficient investments. Meanwhile, a growing body of studies is of the opinion that corporate governance can also mitigate the problem of information asymmetry and consequently exerts significant impacts on the association between information asymmetry and investment efficiency. This study aims to analyze the impact of corporate governance and information asymmetry on investment efficiency. It also tests the moderating role of corporate governance in the relationship between information asymmetry and investment efficiency.Design/methodology/approachThe sample consists of 4,082 firms domiciled in 20 developed countries over the years from 2003 to 2019, including 33,812 firm-year observations. The bid–ask spread is used as a proxy for information asymmetry. To measure corporate governance performance, a proxy provided by ASSET4 is employed, and to determine the optimal levels of investments, we relied on the growth opportunity. To estimate the models, ordinary least squares and generalized method of moment are used.FindingsThe results reveal that information asymmetry is inversely related to investment efficiency, and, corporate governance mitigates this negative association.Originality/valueThis paper sheds light on the role of corporate governance in firms as a lever for mitigating information asymmetry and tries out information asymmetry and agency theories in relation to the impact of information asymmetry on investment efficiency. It also confirms the theory stating that corporate governance can be considered as a determinant of investment efficiency.

We examine whether higher levels of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) sustainability disclosures are attained under voluntary or mandatory disclosure regimes. We use the regulatory differences between the United States (US) and European Union (EU) settings, as firms in the US are currently disclosing ESG information voluntarily whereas their counterparts in the EU are required to disclose such information starting the fiscal year 2017. Our three main findings are (1) for the full sample period, EU firms have an overall higher ESG disclosure relative to US firms; (2) EU firms outperform US firms under voluntary disclosure requirements (2007-2016); (3) after 2017, the ESG disclosure of EU firms further improves relative to US firms. Taken together, our results suggest that the 2017 adoption of disclosure guidelines in the EU is associated with improvements in EU firms’ ESG disclosure. Our results regarding the value-relevance of ESG sustainability disclosure support a move toward mandatory ESG disclosure in the context of integrated sustainability reporting promoted by international organizations. Results support current initiatives that have been taken by global regulators and stock exchanges in recommending and/or requiring global listed companies to disclose their ESG sustainability information to portray an accurate and comprehensive corporate reporting. Results also further our understanding of how firms from the different institutional environments may have disclosed their ESG practices and thus provide opportunities and suggestions for future research.

Purpose Employing a large sample consisting of 3,701 corporations domiciled in developed and emerging countries, this paper aims to analyze the mediating role of investment efficiency in the association between business sustainability performance and corporate financial performance. Design/methodology/approach Four different aspects of corporate sustainability offered by the ASSET4 database are used as proxies for business sustainability performance, including economic, corporate governance, social and environmental dimensions. In addition to these aspects, the aggregate measure of business sustainability performance is also employed. In order to test the association between business sustainability and corporate performance via investment efficiency, ordinary least squares, fixed-effect, random-effect and generalized method of moments statistical models were employed. Findings The results suggest that business sustainability performance is positively associated with corporate financial performance, indicating that sustainable corporations enjoy higher financial performance. Moreover, Sobel, Aroian and Goodman tests confirm that investment efficiency mediates the positive relationship between business sustainability performance and financial performance. Finally, further analyses show that the positive association between sustainability performance and investment efficiency is stronger for those firms headquartered in developed countries than in those located in emerging nations. Originality/value This paper contributes to the literature by investigating how growth opportunities advance the influence of business sustainability to corporate financial performance using a large sample from 43 countries.

This study aims to investigate the impact of debt volume and maturity on investment efficiency. It also analyzes the role of debt maturity in the association between debt volume and investment efficiency. The sample consists of 8,741 firm-year observations from 1,301 Asian corporations, covering the period 2007-2017. Financial leverage is employed as a proxy for debt volume as well as short-term debt for debt maturity. The findings reveal that debt volume and short-term debt are inversely related to investment efficiency. It also shows that the negative relationship between financial leverage and investment efficiency is weaker (closer to zero) for firms with higher use of short-term debt than those with lower use of short-term debt. This paper tries out agency and information asymmetry theories and provides practical implications regarding the optimal capital structure for firms headquartered in Asia.

Purpose - This paper aims to investigate the impact of debt maturity on the relationship between financial leverage and future financing constraints. Moreover, it attempts to analyze the moderating role of short-term debt and the mediating role of future financing constraints in the relationship between financial leverage and future investment. Design/methodology/approach - To test the moderating role of debt maturity, all the observations are divided into two groups based on short-term debt to total debt ratio. Moreover, Sobel, Aroian and Goodman tests are used to analyze the mediating role of future financing constraints. The sample used in this research includes firms listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange from 2006 to 2018. Findings - It is shown that financial leverage is inversely (positively) related to future financing constraints for firms with higher (lower) use of short-term debt and, short-term debt moderates the relation between financial leverage and future investment. The findings also indicate that future financing constraints carry the influence of financial leverage to future investment. Originality/value - In an imperfect market where financing is not independent of investment, it is highly required to carry out some studies on the role of different financing scenarios in firms and their impacts on future financing and investment; therefore, this paper is conducted to address one of the most important issues in the capitalmarket, which is almost the pioneer study in this field.

Objective: This research is aimed at investigating the impact of internal and external corporate governance on the relationship between information asymmetry and investment efficiency. Methods: For the purpose of analyzing the research hypothesis, 106 publicly traded firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange, between 2009 and 2018, have been selected using the elimination method. The analysis of the hypotheses was carried out by using a multivariate regression model with panel data method and employing the fixed effects approach. Results: According to theoretical bases and research finding, information asymmetry has a negative and significant relationship with investment efficiency. Also, corporate governance variables, in both external and internal governance, and both variables of information asymmetry and both dimensions of corporate have a positive and significant relationship with investment efficiency. Conclusion: The results of the research show that the existence of asymmetric information and ambiguity in financial information may lead to inefficient investments. Hence, one of the ways to reduce information asymmetry and increase investment efficiency is enhanced corporate governance quality. According to the existing principle, current expectations, and the findings of this study, the interaction of information and corporate governance have a positive and significant relationship with investment efficiency. This means that in the condition of information asymmetry, the existence of internal and external corporate governance reduces inefficient investments and urges managers to make optimal and efficient investment decisions.