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  6. Marquis, Christopher
  7. Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing

Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing

File(s)
Marquis_Toffel_Zhou_2016_Organization_Science.pdf (2 MB)
Permanent Link(s)
https://hdl.handle.net/1813/44711
Collections
Marquis, Christopher
Author
Marquis, Christopher
Toffel, Michael
Zhou, Yanhua
Abstract

Under increased pressure to report environmental impacts, some firms selectively disclose relatively benign impacts, creating an impression of transparency while masking their true performance. We theorize circumstances under which firms are less likely to engage in such selective disclosure, focusing on organizational and institutional factors that intensify scrutiny and expectations of transparency and that foster civil society mobilization. We test our hypotheses using a novel panel data set of 4,750 public companies across many industries that are headquartered in 45 countries during 2004–2007. Results show that firms that are more environmentally damaging, particularly those in countries where they are more exposed to scrutiny and global norms, are less likely to engage in selective disclosure. We discuss contributions to research on institutional theory, strategic management, and information disclosure.

Date Issued
2016
Publisher
INFORMS
Keywords
institutional theory
•
social movements
•
sustainability
•
corporate social responsibility
•
symbolic management
•
information disclosure
•
sustainability reporting
•
greenwashing
•
civil society
•
globalization
Related Publication(s)
Marquis, Christopher, Michael Toffel and Yanhua Zhou. 2016. “Scrutiny, Norms, and Selective Disclosure: A Global Study of Greenwashing.” Organization Science, 27: 2, 483–504.
Link(s) to Related Publication(s)
http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/orsc.2015.1039
ISSN
1047-7039
Rights
Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
Rights URI
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Type
article

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