Department of Food and Resource Economics (IFRO)

The Unintended Impact of Mandatory ESG Disclosure on Firms’ Access to Global Markets

Open seminar with Associate Professor Yanlei Zhang, Department of Accounting, Copenhagen Business School (CBS).

About the seminar:

There has been growing advocacy among academics and practitioners for the development of green global supply chains.

The study presented in this seminar examines the real effect of mandatory ESG disclosure in China on firms’ access to global markets. If the benefits of ESG disclosure dominate in the supply chain perspective, the mandate should facilitate firms participating in the global supply chain as exporters.

However, our findings diverge from this prediction. Treatment firms—those subject to the mandatory ESG reporting—experience a significant reduction in exports after the mandate. The decreasing effect on exports may be attributed to the increased operating costs induced by the disclosure mandate.

This negative effect is undifferentiated for firms exporting to both ESG-conscious OECD countries and low-income non-OECD countries. These findings highlight the need for further progress in reshaping a business environment conducive to building a green global supply chain.

About the speaker:

Yanlei Zhang is an Associate Professor from the Department of Accounting at Copenhagen Business School (CBS).

He received his Ph.D. in Accounting from Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. Dr. Zhang’s research interests encompass several areas, including the intersection of digitalization with accounting and finance, as well as social and environmental issues within corporate operations.

His work has been published in journals such as the Journal of Banking and Finance, Journal of Business Ethics, Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, and The International Journal of Accounting.

Find more information and publications via CBS' website.