This article examines whether the level of environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure in Andalusian municipal-owned enterprises varies by two attributes: industry and the local government that owns the company. To do this, the authors conduct a content analysis of multiple communication channels of 307 MOEs using a validated instrument. Consistent with our initial expectation, we find that ESG disclosure among Andalusian MOEs tends to be isomorphic across firms operating in the same sector and those owned by the same local government. Our follow-up analysis has allowed us to identify alternative explanations for the higher levels of voluntary rather than mandatory disclosure among Andalusian MOEs. Companies that engage in greater voluntary ESG disclosure evidently are driven more by normative than coercive forces.
Peña et al. (Mon,) studied this question.