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When stakeholders are unaware of information that is of relevance to them and when this information is costly to obtain (due to costs associated with information awareness, acquisition, and integration), those stakeholders suffer from information asymmetry visà-vis the producer and owner of this information. To overcome those conditions, mandated disclosure has been used in a number of settings, requiring the owner of information such as a chemical manufacturer to disclose the types and level of toxic releases it produces. However, without the ease of information acquisition and subsequent dissemination, such disclosure’s value remains limited. In this paper, we study broadband penetration in the United States as an enabler of the public to be better informed about manufacturers’ pollution and its implications on curbing toxic releases. Because some marginalized communities have been documented to suffer more from such toxic releases, we also study the disproportionate impact of broadband on Black communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates when mandatory electronic waste (e-waste) regulation may unintentionally affect voluntary environmental initiatives in other domains. To study this question, we exploit the staggered passage of e-waste laws in the United States as a quasi-experiment. Using panel data at the city and facility levels, we find that mandatory e-waste laws crowd out voluntary Energy Star building certifications. However, the crowding-out effect is contingent on the payoff uncertainty of certification benefits and the cost savings possible from reducing voluntary certification efforts. These findings advance the growing strategy literature on environmental regulations by deepening our understanding of when the unintended cross-domain consequences of mandatory regulation on voluntary environmental engagement may lead to stronger adverse effects at both the extensive and intensive margins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recognizing that supply network structure has implications for a focal firm's ability to access environmental information embedded in its supply network, this paper draws on structural, environmental, and financial data from Bloomberg to test the relationship between a focal firm's supply network structure and its extent of environmental information disclosure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The adoption of environmental management practices (EMP) intended to reduce a firm's environmental footprint has increased steadily over the years. Given that EMP adoption is positively associated with superior environmental, financial, and operational performance, an understanding of the drivers of such adoption is of importance to regulators, NGO's, and practitioners alike. Researchers have examined a variety of factors that drive the adoption of such practices individually and as a part of environmental management systems, such as ISO 14000. But while the general drivers of EMP adoption have been evaluated extensively, no empirical research has evaluated whether a negative environmental event, such as an environmental spill or pollution event, impacts a firm's pattern of EMP adoption. Using a novel, secondary panel dataset, we find that; (1) negative events reduce future EMP adoption and this effect seems to persist for 2 years and (2) managerial commitment reduces EMP adoption following a negative event, even though in the absence of the event it is positively correlated with EMP adoption. The results are robust to analytical method used and the approach used to measure a negative event. Our results make several contributions to theoretical research. First, the project is the first to evaluate the pattern of EMP adoption over time. Second, we examine two drivers of EMP adoption that have not previously been studied - a negative event and managerial commitment - individually and jointly. Third, we develop and evaluate a more nuanced and broader definition of EMP's (as first put forth by Sroufe, 2003). Lastly, we provide additional evidence of the viability for using publicly reported environmental data to conduct environmental research. Such data offers a number of advantages when compared to traditional survey methods, including improved data availability and increased robustness for measuring EMP adoption, as previously noted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Punitive regulatory actions are now being supplemented with supportive non-regulatory interventions to drive environmental improvements (EIs) in firms. An important policy and operational question is whether these two approaches have a complementary or counterproductive influence on EIs. Using an event history analysis of 300+ EIs tracked over several months, this study shows that the nature of influence depends on (1) timing effects of regulatory & non-regulatory events and (2) ownership effects of EIs. First, this paper finds that mistimed regulatory shocks (e.g. audits and sanctions) can have a detrimental effect on the adoption of EIs. However, non- regulatory nudges (e.g. reminders and follow-ups) can ensure higher (and faster) adoption of EIs. Further, this paper shows how managerial ownership moderates the effect of regulatory shocks and non-regulatory nudges. Specifically, we find that while senior managers are highly responsive to regulatory shocks, they may exhibit limited responsiveness towards non- regulatory nudges. We present policy, operational and behavioral implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasingly, companies find themselves being torn between fulfilling stakeholder demands and satisfying shareholder claims. How can they then effectively balance these divergent interests while being focused on the overarching "corporate objective" of creating firm value? Recent anecdotal evidence suggests that firms have been doing so through a combination of stakeholder-oriented "actions" and shareholder-oriented "communications." To explore this phenomenon, we conceptualize social responsibility practices as socially responsible communications (SRCs) and socially responsible actions (SRAs). We show that SRCs are able to mitigate agency problems and significantly improve market performance, while SRAs are able to reduce transaction costs and significantly improve operational performance. Further, our analysis shows that absolute discrepancies between SRAs and SRCs lead to reduced market performance. On the other hand, positive discrepancies between the SRA-SRC relationship (i.e., over- delivering) lead to higher operational performance. Although the theoretical predictions and our empirical findings are in closer alignment for labor practices, they exhibit a divergent trend in the case of environmental practices. We identify important boundary conditions and explain the heterogeneity in our findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]