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This study examines the relationship between lobbying contributions and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure among S&P 500 firms in the United States (US) from 2014 to 2022. Using firm-level data from Bloomberg and the LSEG Workspace databases, we implement the GMM-SYS Arellano-Bond estimator to assess how the amount of lobbying contributions influences sustainability transparency. Our findings reveal a significant inverse relationship between the two variables. This suggests that firms engaging more intensively in lobbying may strategically limit their transparency in sustainability reporting, potentially using political influence as a substitute for public accountability. These results underscore the importance for regulators to reassess existing disclosure frameworks and consider targeted interventions—such as enhanced oversight or incentive schemes—to discourage greenhushing practices and ensure that lobbying does not undermine the credibility of ESG communication.
Taddeo et al. (Mon,) studied this question.