“Building” Better Information: The Role of Indoor Environmental Quality

Alternative Title

Indoor Environmental Quality and Information Production Quality

Publication Type

Working Paper

Publication Date

8-2025

Abstract

This study examines whether firms’ indoor workplace environment affects the quality of corporate information production. Using building-level data from the U.S. Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification program, we first show that employees at firms headquartered in offices with higher indoor environmental quality (IEQ) are more likely to leave positive IEQ-related feedback on Glassdoor. We then find that such firms issue more accurate management forecasts, and that this positive effect also holds in a difference-in-differences design based on city-level LEED adoption policies. We further show that sell-side analysts working in higher-IEQ offices also produce more accurate forecasts, particularly after post-pandemic return-to-office mandates, which demonstrates the generalizability of IEQ’s impact on information production. Our mechanism analyses suggest that superior IEQ enhances employee occupational well-being, increases work effort, and helps firms attract high-quality talent. Our findings contribute to emerging research on human capital, ESG investments, and the post-pandemic return-to-office transition.

Keywords

employee treatment, ESG, green building, indoor environment quality, management forecast

Discipline

Accounting | Advertising and Promotion Management | Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Business and Corporate Communications | Cognitive Science | Communication | Environmental Studies | Human Resources Management | Immunology and Infectious Disease | Labor Relations | Medicine and Health Sciences

Research Areas

Corporate Communication; Strategy and Organisation; Organisational Behaviour and Human Resources; Corporate Reporting and Disclosure; Financial Intermediation and Information; Accounting Information System; Humanities; Integrative Research Areas

Areas of Excellence

Sustainability

Publication

SSRN

Embargo Period

8-29-2025

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