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• Article | Work In Progress (American Sociological Association blog) | March 22, 2016

  The Globalization of Corporate Environmental Disclosure: Accountability or Greenwashing?

  Christopher Marquis, Michael W. Toffel and Yanhua Zhou

  This article is a layman summary of "Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing," published in Organization Science 27, no. 2 (March–April 2016): 483–504.

  Keywords: reporting; environmental performance; environmental sustainability; civil society; Corporate Disclosure; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Civil Society or Community; Environmental Sustainability;

  Citation:

  Marquis, Christopher, Michael W. Toffel, and Yanhua Zhou. "The Globalization of Corporate Environmental Disclosure: Accountability or Greenwashing?" Work In Progress (American Sociological Association blog) (March 22, 2016). (Reprinted as Environmental disclosure: corporate accountability or greenwashing?” LSE Business Review, June 9, 2016.)  View Details

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• Article | Organization Science | March–April 2016

  Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing

  Christopher Marquis, Michael W. Toffel and Yanhua Zhou

  Under increased pressure to report environmental impacts, some firms selectively disclose relatively benign impacts, creating an impression of transparency while masking their true performance. We identify key company- and country-level factors that limit firms' use of selective disclosure by intensifying scrutiny on them and by diffusing global norms to their headquarters' countries. We test our hypotheses using a novel panel dataset of 4,750 public companies across many industries and headquartered in 45 countries during 2004–2007. Results show that firms that are more environmentally damaging, particularly those in countries where they are more exposed to scrutiny and global norms, are less likely to engage in selective disclosure. We discuss contributions to the literature that spans institutional theory and strategic management and to the literature on information disclosure.

  Keywords: disclosure strategy; disclosure; environmental performance; environmental strategy; environment; symbolic; reporting; Corporate Disclosure; Integrated Corporate Reporting; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact;

  Citation:

  Marquis, Christopher, Michael W. Toffel, and Yanhua Zhou. "Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing." Organization Science 27, no. 2 (March–April 2016): 483–504. (Formerly titled "When Do Firms Greenwash? Corporate Visibility, Civil Society Scrutiny, and Environmental Disclosure.")  View Details

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• Working Paper | HBS Working Paper Series | 2016

  Does Firm Innovation Affect Corporate Social Responsibility?

  This study examines the relationship between firm innovation and CSR. Stakeholders’ concern over transaction-specific investments exacerbates when firms engage heavily in innovation activities. To secure stakeholders’ support, firms adopt CSR effectively as an ex ante signal of sustainability and goodwill. As CSR is endogenous to a firm’s innovation activities, we rely on an instrumental variable (IV) approach to test our hypothesis. Using a sample of 3,315 U.S. publicly-listed firms from 2001 through 2011, we find that more innovative firms also engage more in CSR activities. This effect is stronger for firms of higher risk and/or operating in a less munificent environment. Additionally, firms with higher innovation reap greater financial benefits from their CSR activities.

  Keywords: corporate social responsibility; firm innovation; transaction-specific investments; firm risk; environmental munificence; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Business and Stakeholder Relations; Innovation and Invention;

  Citation:

  Shen, Rui, Yi Tang, and Ying Zhang. "Does Firm Innovation Affect Corporate Social Responsibility?" Harvard Business School Working Paper, No. 16-096, February 2016.  View Details

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