The Real Effects of Mandatory CSR Disclosure on Emissions: Evidence from the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program

Lavender Yang, Nicholas Muller and Jinghong Liang

No 28984, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: We examine the real effects of the Greenhouse Gas Reporting Program (GHGRP) on electric power plants in the United States. Starting in 2010, the GHGRP requires both the reporting of greenhouse gas emissions by facilities emitting more than 25,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide per year to the Environmental Protection Agency and the public dissemination of the reported data in a comprehensive and accessible manner. Using a difference-in-difference research design, we find that power plants that are subject to the GHGRP reduced carbon dioxide emission rates by 7%. The effect is stronger for plants owned by publicly traded firms. We detect evidence of strategic behavior by firms that own both GHGRP plants and non-GHGRP plants. Such firms strategically reallocate emissions between plants to reduce GHGRP-disclosed emissions. We interpret this as evidence that the program is costly to the affected firms. Our results offer new evidence that public or shareholder pressure is a primary channel through which mandatory Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) reporting programs affect firm behavior.

JEL-codes: G38 L21 M14 M41 Q54 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021-07
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-ene, nep-env and nep-reg
Note: EEE
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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