Dissertation
Voluntary Internet Environmental Disclosure, Industry Classification, Trust, Ideology and Litigation Effects
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
01/2011
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/112020
Abstract
Using experimental participants as surrogates for jurors, the present research investigates and finds: (1) jurors assess less punitive damage award against a firm that voluntarily discloses on its website future abatement and control information in response to a case of environmental sanction, (2) environmental sensitivity of the firm's industry moderates the negative relationship between voluntary internet disclosure and jurors' assessment of punitive damage award, (3) juror's perceived trust toward the firm management mediates the prior moderation effect, and (4) juror's individual beliefs, specifically his/her political ideology (as well as business and environmental sustainability views), affect his/her decision on punitive damage award.
This study uses a two-by-two between-subject factorial design (with two between-group factors: voluntary internet disclosure and firm-industry's environmental sensitivity). Participants taking part in this study come from both the undergraduate and graduate student populations of a northwestern state university as well as from the community, so as to simulate a cross-section of the socioeconomic strata representing a potential juror pool. The primary dependent variable of interest pertains to juror's decision on the level of punitive damage award in an event of environmental sanction. Individual-level variables of interest examined in this study are the juror's trust in firm management, political ideology, pro-/anti-business views as well as environmental sustainability views in business.
Complementing prior archival and experimental studies in both the capital market and environmental accounting realms, this study adopts a juror's decision-making platform and uses the theoretical underpinnings of: (1) organizational legitimation through impression management disclosure strategies by the firm-defendant in response to a case of environmental malfeasance, (2) juror's attribution of communication credibility bias and that of perceived trust toward the firm management, both in response to the ex ante incentive and reputation of the firm-defendant's industry classification, and (3) juror's individual difference in beliefs and ideologies toward politics, business and environmental sustainability viewpoints, to determine overall juror judgments in assessing punitive damages. Practical implications are discussed along with limitations of the study.
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Details
- Title
- Voluntary Internet Environmental Disclosure, Industry Classification, Trust, Ideology and Litigation Effects
- Creators
- Wee Meng Eric Lee
- Contributors
- John T Sweeney (Advisor)G. Leonard Burns (Committee Member)John M Thornton (Committee Member)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Carson College of Business
- Theses and Dissertations
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Washington State University
- Number of pages
- 120
- Identifiers
- 99900581659501842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Dissertation