Corporate Environmental Disclosure Strategies: Determinants, Costs and Benefits

Abstract

In response to investors' and other stakeholders' concerns about corporate environmental policies, many firms are voluntarily increasing their level of environmental disclosure since there is a scarcity of alternative information sources. Using a cost-benefit framework, this study intends to identify determinants of corporate environmental reporting by Canadian firms subject to water pollution compliance regulations during the 1986–1993 period. Results suggest that information costs and a firm's financial condition are key determinants of environmental disclosure. Firm size, the regulatory regime governing corporate disclosure, and industry, also contribute to explaining environmental disclosure.