Disclosure of environmental information in corporate reports and investment attractiveness of Russian companies

Abstract

The relationship between the disclosure of environmental information in corporate reports and the interest of investors is difficult to justify due to the subjective assessment of the data communicated. The article discusses how the depth of environmental information disclosure in Russian companies’ reports estimated using the authors’ dictionary (taxonomy)1 affects their investment attractiveness. Methodologically, the study rests on the concepts of green economy, behavioral finance and corporate social responsibility. The main research methods are textual and cluster analysis. Annual reports of 60 Russian listed companies for 10 years constitute the empirical base of the present work. The authors divide the period under examination (2015–2018) into two clusters. The first one is comprised companies with a high level of environmental information disclosure and relatively low investment attractiveness; the second cluster embraces companies with a low level of information disclosure, but high investment attractiveness. Despite the fact that the composition of the first cluster changes every year, it inalterably includes organizations engaged in chemical, metallurgical, energy and mining sectors. In each cluster, there is a constant increase in the level of environmental information disclosure, which may be caused by the tightening of legal requirements. However, no statistically significant relationship between the level of environmental information disclosure and the investment attractiveness of a company was found, which might be due to the absence of significant changes in investment attractiveness of companies in each cluster over time.