In accordance with stakeholders' theory and the reputation-building hypothesis, environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure and voluntary earnings guidance are important ways of enhancing a firm's transparency. Using data of U.S. publicly listed companies from 2002 to 2021, we find that the level of ESG disclosure (measured with Bloomberg and machine learning (ML) ESG disclosure scores) is associated with increased information asymmetry. A subsequent examination reveals a positive relation between ESG disclosure levels and earnings guidance. The result holds in a robustness test of quasi-exogenous event of the initiation of the Bloomberg ESG disclosure coverage of firms. We deduce that firms are using voluntary earnings guidance to counterbalance the adverse impact of ESG disclosure on transparency. The study provides new insights on the factors that determine voluntary earnings guidance through firms' involvement in ESG disclosure.

中文翻译：

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驾驭透明度：ESG 披露与自愿收益指导的相互作用


根据利益相关者理论和声誉建设假说，环境、社会和治理 （ESG） 披露以及自愿收益指导是提高公司透明度的重要方式。使用 2002 年至 2021 年美国上市公司的数据，我们发现 ESG 披露水平（用彭博社和机器学习 （ML） ESG 披露分数衡量）与信息不对称性增加相关。随后的检查显示 ESG 披露水平与收益指引之间存在正相关关系。该结果适用于启动彭博社 ESG 披露覆盖公司的准外生事件的稳健性测试。我们推断，公司正在使用自愿收益指导来抵消 ESG 披露对透明度的不利影响。该研究为通过公司参与 ESG 披露来决定自愿收益指导的因素提供了新的见解。