Firm Visibility and Voluntary Environmental Behavior: Evidence from Hydraulic Fracturing

Abstract

Larger firms are often found to be more likely to participate in voluntary environmental programs, but few studies have investigated the mechanism through which firm size matters. This paper studies oil and gas firms’ likelihood of voluntarily disclosing information on hydraulic fracturing, an industrial process that involves the use of toxic chemicals. I find evidence that firm visibility is an important mechanism through which firm size affects the voluntary disclosure rate. My findings suggest that voluntary approaches to environmental protection are unlikely to be effective if many targeted firms are small and not visible to the public. (JEL D21, Q58)