Measuring the effects of the voluntary disclosure of environmental management performance: Based on the US stock market

This dissertation presents three essays in sustainable business and environmental economics. They address issues of sustainable business practices, the investors' reaction to the announcements of the firms' performance reports, and the relationship between the performance of sustainable business indicators and financial performance, respectively.;The objective of the first essay is to examine whether or not firms are applying sustainable business practices based on the Triple Bottom Line (Environmental, economic, and social areas). To achieve this objective, this study used content analysis. This research suggests that firms in the manufacturing industries have applied sustainable business practices, and firms in the other industries have incorporated or considered their use since 2003.;The second essay investigates the relationship between the voluntary announcements of the performance reports of firms' environmental management and sustainable business practices, and financial performance. Data are announcements from companies that disclose environmental performance reports to the public from January 1999 to December 2006. The stock market reactions were examined in terms of four characteristics from samples. The results indicate that the voluntary announcements of firms' performance reports affected positive or negative stock market returns in terms of characteristics of samples.;The third essay employs a regression analysis to analyze the effects of sustainable business indicators on stock market in the US. This research identified changes in six environmental indicators and three social indicators disclosed in firms' performance reports. The researcher found evidence that the changes in the performance of certain environmental and social indicators had a positive or negative in relationship to stock market returns. The reduction of the amount of greenhouse gases generated, which is good environmental performance, has positive effects on stock market returns. The increment of the amount of solid waste, which is poor environmental performance, has a statistically significant positive impact on returns. The performance of the recordable illness rate significantly affects a negative stock market return on the announcement day. This research suggests that the performance of certain environmental and social indicators has a relationship to stock market returns in the United States.