Stakeholder pressure and greenhouses gas voluntary disclosures

This paper reports managers' perceived importance of various stakeholders’ pressure in their greenhouse gas (GHG) disclosure decisions. We also report on which stakeholders explain the variation in the extent of GHG disclosures. Further, evidence of how firm size moderates the relationship between some stakeholders and GHG disclosure is provided. Data were obtained through a mail survey of the UK's FTSE 100 listed firms, to which 62 firms responded. GHG disclosures within the respondents' annual reports were scored, and regression analysis was undertaken to determine if a relationship existed between actual GHG disclosures and the rating assigned to the stakeholders. The results indicate that the provider stakeholder group (shareholders, investors and community) is perceived to have the most significant influence on managers’ GHG disclosure decisions, followed by government regulators, organisational (employee, customers and suppliers) stakeholders, and social (competitors, NGOs and media) stakeholders, respectively. Regression results show a positive and significant relationship between perceived organisational and regulatory stakeholder pressure and actual GHG disclosures. However, the relationship between providers and social stakeholders and GHG disclosure is not significant. The findings further suggest that the relationships between organisational and regulatory pressure are moderated by firm size. The results have important implications for policymakers.