A study of mandatory environmental reporting in Australia: compliance, reporting quantity, reporting quality, and the impression management tactics

With the increasing concerns over human impacts resulting in environmental crises such as climate change (IPCC, 2014), there is a growing demand for companies to take a transparent and responsible approach in disclosing relevant information on the impact of their operational activities on the environment. While mandatory environmental reporting has been introduced in some countries to improve accountability in corporate reporting, it is unclear whether it can help foster accountability and provide truthful and accurate information concerning a company’s environmental performance. This thesis attempts to fill this gap in the literature by investigating various perspectives and practices under mandatory environmental reporting in three empirical studies.