Publication Type
PhD Dissertation
Version
publishedVersion
Publication Date
10-2025
Abstract
I examine the effect of availability of ESG rating information on firms’ voluntary ESG disclosure practices. Thomson Reuters Asset4 expanded ESG rating coverage from Russell 1000 index to Russell 2000 index in 2017. Exploiting this exogenous shock of availability of ESG rating information in a difference-in-difference research design, I find that compared with Russell 1000 firms (i.e., control firms), Russell 2000 firms (i.e., treatment firms) are less likely to increase voluntary ESG disclosures. The effect is more pronounced for firms with higher disclosure costs, captured by higher level of firm complexity and lower level of digitalization, and less pronounced for firms with higher disclosure benefits, captured by greater demand of sustainability information from green funds and climate change analysts. An alternative research design suggests that the results are not due to the firm size differences between treatment firms and control firms. Additional analyses rule out the confounding effects from ESG performance since treatment firms do not change ESG activities compared to control firms. Collectively, my findings enhance our understanding of firms’ voluntary ESG disclosure decisions.
Keywords
Voluntary ESG disclosure, ESG rating, Sustainability information
Degree Awarded
PhD in Accounting
Discipline
Accounting
Supervisor(s)
CHEN, Xia
First Page
1
Last Page
76
Publisher
Singapore Management University
City or Country
Singapore
Citation
PENG, Xuefan.
Availability of ESG rating information and voluntary ESG disclosure: Evidence from coverage expansion of ESG rating agency. (2025). 1-76.
Available at: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/etd_coll/698
Copyright Owner and License
Author
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.