Extent of environmental disclosure of U.S. and Canadian firms by annual report location

Abstract

This study discusses various influences on firms to provide additional environmental disclosure and empirically measures and analyzes the extent of actual environmental disclosures included in the annual reports of firms in the U.S. and Canada. The environmental disclosure content provided in the annual reports of firms is evaluated based on environmental reporting guidelines published by the American Institute of Public Accountants and the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. In general, the results indicate that U.S. firms provided a significantly higher level of environmental disclosure than did Canadian firms. Also, firms in each nation varied significantly in the amount of environmental disclosure provided in each of four annual report sections.