The effect of voluntary environmental disclosure on firm value : a study of Nordic listed firms

Abstract

This paper empirically investigates the relationship between voluntary environmental disclosure and firm value. The analysis is based on a sample consisting of Nordic listed firms disclosing environmental information to the Carbon Disclosure Project in 2007 -2011. We investigate the impact of disclosure on firm value from both an accounting and a market perspective. We provide evidence of a significant, positive association between the level of voluntary environmental disclosure and Tobin’s Q. Furthermore, we find that firms with improved disclosure from one year to the next experience abnormal excess return. Firms with stable or aggravated disclosure do not yield the same result. This implies that voluntary environmental disclosure is value-relevant for stakeholders, and has a positive impact on firm value.