Financial Analyst Coverage and Corporate Environmental Disclosure

Abstract

Consistent with the monitoring function played by financial analysts, we find that greater analyst coverage leads to the same extent of improvement in the quantity and quality of environmental information disclosed by the firm. This result is remarkably robust after conducting a difference-in-differences analysis that exploits brokerage closures and mergers as an exogenous decrease in analyst coverage, as well as using an instrumental variable approach. The positive influence of analyst coverage on corporate environmental disclosure is particularly evident for firms that cause high environmental damage, firms with low information asymmetry and those followed by analysts with superior experience, accuracy and reputation. Taken together, our empirical findings provide new insights into the bright side effect of analyst coverage on corporate environmental-related activities.