A longitudinal analysis of firm expected market value, environmental, social and governance disclosure

Environmental, social and governance (ESG) information has increased significantly in recent decades due to the interest in sustainable reporting. This paper examines the impact of ESG disclosure on firm expected market value. The data was collected using a multi-country cross-sectional approach (i.e., the sample consists of developed and developing counties over a period 2012-2015). The relationships were tested using regression analysis. The paper found that there is a significant positive relationship between social and governance information and firm expected market value, whereas environmental disclosure has a significant negative relationship with firm expected market value. The findings indicate that social and governance information affects firm expected market value, as companies with high disclosure will have greater market value. Nevertheless, companies with high environmental information have low firm expected market value. The findings are the in the interest of companies, stakeholders and policy-makers to assess the current ESG reporting practices and its impact on the expected market value. Such efforts promote greater global transparency and sustainable market value.