Does the kind of sustainability disclosure change its market value? A theory-elaborating meta-analysis of disclosure form and capital-market valuation

Abstract

A systematic review and meta-analysis asking whether the kind of sustainability-related disclosure explains heterogeneity in its association with market-based firm valuation. Much of the literature treats ESG disclosure, sustainability reporting, integrated reporting and the separate environmental, social and governance disclosures as interchangeable indicators of one construct. This review treats that functional-equivalence assumption as testable. Using information-based disclosure theory, it specifies disclosure kind on four theoretical dimensions, namely information granularity, reporting architecture, external assurance and standards alignment, and tests whether splitting the construct improves the explanation of the accumulated evidence on market valuation. Registered before the main search.