Coming Clean: The Impact of Firm Internationalization on Environmental Information Disclosure in the Construction Industry

Abstract

Environmental information disclosure (EID) as an essential component of corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become a business imperative worldwide. Despite the growing interest in CSR activities of construction companies on an international scale, little is known about the extent to which firms’ EID practices are influenced by their internationalization. This study thus fills the gap using a sample of 1,571 observations from 250 public construction companies headquartered in 36 countries. The level of internationalization is measured as the ratio of foreign sales to total sales. The empirical results suggest that the level of internationalization has a significant and positive impact on the quality of EID—the extent to which a firm’s disclosed information represents its overall environmental performance. The findings remain robust after conducting a batch of robustness checks and addressing potential endogenous concerns. Additionally, the results demonstrate that the positive effect of internationalization on the quality of EID is more pronounced for firms that are (1) more exposed to adverse CSR events, (2) headquartered in countries with less stringent environmental policies, and (3) headquartered in countries with fewer ties to global information trends. Collectively, this study sheds light on the implications of internationalization for environmental disclosure and transparency.