Does a Customer Focus Influence Firms’ Climate‐Change Reporting Decisions? The Role of Market‐Driven Corporate Culture

ABSTRACT While there is increasing investor demand for climate‐change disclosures, less is known about how a firm's culture influences its decision to provide these disclosures. In this study, we focus on market‐driven or customer‐focused culture. We expect that firms with a market‐driven culture (MDC) will be more likely to provide climate‐change disclosures because such firms are more customer‐oriented. Our results are consistent with this expectation. We also find that the level of carbon emissions is negatively associated with MDC, suggesting that the climate‐change disclosures are not merely greenwash. Further, we find firm value is higher for MDC firms that provide climate‐change disclosures. Overall, we contribute to the literature by identifying MDC as an important determinant of climate‐change disclosure.