TY - JOUR
T1 - Mind the Gap
T2 - Is Water Disclosure a Missing Component of Corporate Social Responsibility?
AU - Zhang, Linhan
AU - Tang, Qingliang
AU - Huang, Robin Hui
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2020 British Accounting Association
PY - 2021/1
Y1 - 2021/1
N2 - Corporate water stewardship is conventionally internally focused, but now it is becoming a critical issue in a wider socio-political context. Drawing on the theory of self-regulation, we investigate the rationale behind, and the factors contributing to, corporate decisions to voluntarily disclose water information via the CDP. The study uses innovative proxies for corporate self-regulation, including water governance, water policy, water actions, and water performance. Our results show that these proxies are significantly related to the propensity of the companies participating in the CDP to disclose water information. Furthermore, belonging to a water-intensive industry may moderate the impact of self-regulation on water transparency. Finally, sharing water information privately with key institutional investors is a strategic tool for implementing self-regulation. The study suggests that corporate self-regulation can play a powerful role in reducing corporate water opaqueness when mandatory water legislation is absent or not yet applicable.
AB - Corporate water stewardship is conventionally internally focused, but now it is becoming a critical issue in a wider socio-political context. Drawing on the theory of self-regulation, we investigate the rationale behind, and the factors contributing to, corporate decisions to voluntarily disclose water information via the CDP. The study uses innovative proxies for corporate self-regulation, including water governance, water policy, water actions, and water performance. Our results show that these proxies are significantly related to the propensity of the companies participating in the CDP to disclose water information. Furthermore, belonging to a water-intensive industry may moderate the impact of self-regulation on water transparency. Finally, sharing water information privately with key institutional investors is a strategic tool for implementing self-regulation. The study suggests that corporate self-regulation can play a powerful role in reducing corporate water opaqueness when mandatory water legislation is absent or not yet applicable.
KW - Corporate social responsibility (CSR)
KW - Private disclosure
KW - Self-regulation
KW - Sustainability
KW - Water disclosure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85089985131&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.bar.2020.100940
DO - 10.1016/j.bar.2020.100940
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85089985131
SN - 0890-8389
VL - 53
JO - British Accounting Review
JF - British Accounting Review
IS - 1
M1 - 100940
ER -