ESG Disclosures in the Private Equity Industry
Journal of Accounting Research, Volume 62, Issue 5. Pp. 1611-1660
Posted: 18 Dec 2024
There are 2 versions of this paper
ESG Disclosures in the Private Equity Industry
ESG Disclosures in the Private Equity Industry
Date Written: December 01, 2024
Abstract
This paper offers the first systematic evidence on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosures provided by a large global sample of private equity (PE) firms. Using historical websites from 2000 to 2022, we develop and validate a novel dictionary-based measure of voluntary PE firm ESG disclosures. Descriptive statistics reveal an increasing time trend in these disclosures, with social topics becoming as important as environmental topics recently. Multivariate analyses show that the demand for ESG information from fund investors is a significant determinant of PE firms’ ESG disclosures. Leveraging data on PE firms’ portfolio companies, we document that more PE firm ESG disclosures are associated with better ESG outcomes at the portfolio company level, suggesting that voluntary ESG disclosures align with real actions for the average PE firm.
Keywords: private equity, financial reporting, ESG disclosures, voluntary disclosures, ESG investing, sustainable investment
JEL Classification: G12, G32, M41
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation