Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • March 2020
  • Article
  • Accounting Horizons

Voluntary, Self-Regulatory, and Mandatory Disclosure of Oil and Gas Company Payments to Foreign Governments

By: Paul M. Healy and George Serafeim
  • Format:Print
ShareBar

Abstract

Concerns about high rates of government corruption in resource-rich countries have led transparency advocates to urge oil and gas firms to disclose payments to host governments for natural resources. Transparency, they argue, can increase government accountability and mitigate corruption. However, we find a low frequency of voluntary disclosures of payments by oil and gas firms and negative stock price reactions for affected firms at the announcement of regulations mandating disclosure. This suggests that sample firm managers and their investors perceive that such disclosures generate private costs, despite any public benefits. We document that industry self-regulation has generated information to substitute for the gap in voluntary company disclosure and that such disclosures are accompanied by lower country corruption ratings. This suggests that collective action could be an effective way for companies to manage the private costs of disclosure and respond to public pressure for transparency that could provide public benefits.

Keywords

Oil & Gas; Corruption; Transparency; Self-regulation; Industry Self-regulation; Regulation; Disclosure; Disclosure Regulation; Energy Sources; Crime and Corruption; Corporate Disclosure; Governing Rules, Regulations, and Reforms; Energy Industry

Citation

Healy, Paul M., and George Serafeim. "Voluntary, Self-Regulatory, and Mandatory Disclosure of Oil and Gas Company Payments to Foreign Governments." Accounting Horizons 34, no. 1 (March 2020): 111–129.
  • SSRN
  • Find it at Harvard

About The Authors

Paul M. Healy

Accounting and Management
→More Publications

George Serafeim

Accounting and Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • March 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Northvolt: Building Batteries to Fight Climate Change

    By: Debora L. Spar, Georgios Serafeim and Julia Comeau
    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Elon Musk at Tesla

    By: George Serafeim and Amram Migdal
    • January 2023
    • Faculty Research

    Organizational Climate Transition Risk Model

    By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta
More from the Authors
  • Northvolt: Building Batteries to Fight Climate Change By: Debora L. Spar, Georgios Serafeim and Julia Comeau
  • Elon Musk at Tesla By: George Serafeim and Amram Migdal
  • Organizational Climate Transition Risk Model By: George Serafeim and Benjamin Maletta
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College