Agency scrutiny restricts volume and quality of environmental disclosures in conference calls
Public firms facing inspections or enforcement actions by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) disclose significantly less information about their environmental risks and performance, finds a new study by Assistant Professor of Accounting and Information AssuranceMarkZakotaat the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business, forthcoming in theReview of Accounting Studies.
Zakotaanalyzed more than 60,000 earnings conference calls by 2,811 U.S.-listed firms, spanning the period from 2002 to 2019. His research reveals that EPA scrutiny leads to an 18% average decline in the quantity and quality of a firm's voluntary environmental disclosures.
These findings are especially timely,Zakotanotes, given the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC's) recent efforts to satisfy investor demand for transparent climate disclosures. In March 2024, the SEC adopted mandatory climate-disclosure rules, only to issue a stay in April 2024 and withdraw its legal defense in early 2025 after extensive legal challenges.
Zakota's findingssuggestthat, even if the SEC advances itsclimate-disclosureinitiative, concurrent EPA inspections and enforcementactionsmay undermine the transparency the commission hopes to achieve, unlessthe two agencies coordinate their oversight orfirms strengthen their environmental governance.
The chilling effect of EPA scrutiny is most pronounced among firms whose boards lack directors with environmental expertise. “Environmental expert directors appear to mitigate concerns about disclosure costs for scrutinized firms,”Zakotaexplains, highlighting the importance of board-level expertise in sustaining transparent climate communication.
Read the study: “EPA Scrutiny and Voluntary Environmental Disclosures.”
About the University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of BusinessThe Robert H. Smith School of Business is an internationally recognized leader in management education and research. One of 12 colleges and schools at the University of Maryland, College Park, the Smith School offers undergraduate, full-time and flex MBA, executive MBA, online MBA, business master's, PhD and executive education programs, as well as outreach services to the corporate community. The school offers its degree, custom and certification programs in learning locations in North America and Asia.
Contact: Greg Muraski, gmuraski@umd.edu
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SOURCE University of Maryland's Robert H. Smith School of Business
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