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The Harm Of Symbolic Actions And Green-Washing: Corporate Actions And Communications On Environmental Performance And Their Financial Implications, Kent Walker, Fang Wan
The Harm Of Symbolic Actions And Green-Washing: Corporate Actions And Communications On Environmental Performance And Their Financial Implications, Kent Walker, Fang Wan
Odette School of Business Publications
We examine over 100 top performing Canadian firms in visibly polluting industries as we seek to answer four research questions: What specific environmental issues are firms addressing? How do these issues differ between industries? Are both symbolic and substantive actions financially beneficial? Does green-washing, measured as the difference between symbolic and substantive action, and/or green-highlighting, measured as the combined effect of symbolic and substantive actions, pay? We find that substantive actions of environmental issues (green walk) neither harm nor benefit firms financially, but symbolic actions (green talk) are negatively related to financial performance. We also find that green-washing (discrepancy between …