Environmental Disclosure Within Legal and Accounting Contexts: An International Perspective

We investigate how environmental disclosures vary under commercial and environmental laws across countries. Using results from an international survey of managers, we find evidence that legal institutions affect managers? reports of corporate environmental disclosures. We further document that reported environmental disclosures are related to GDP per capita. Finally, we find evidence that reported environmental disclosures and disclosure regulations are codetermined, that is, across countries, reported environmental disclosures vary with legal institutions, environmental regulation, and disclosure regulation.