Industry and performance in the Portuguese listed companies: the mediating role of the environmental information disclosure

Abstract

Based on the legitimacy and stakeholders’ theories, this research aims to analyze the environmental information disclosure of Portuguese companies. Specifically, this study aims to explore the environmental information disclosure level, whether the industry (environmentally sensitive) influences the level of ecological matters disclosure, and whether this impacts the companies' performance/profitability. Using the content analysis technique, we developed two indices to assess the level of environmental disclosures in companies' mandatory and voluntary reporting. In addition, for the relationship between variables analysis, we applied the Process Macro of SPSS software. Study results show that (1) there is a positive evolution in the level of environmental disclosure by Lisbon stock exchange listed companies between the years 2015 and 2017, (2) the industry has no significant relationship with profitability; (3) the environmental disclosure acts as a mediator variable in the relationship between industry and profitability. This research presents differences in the tendency of environmental matters disclosure when prepared under an accounting framework or voluntarily and assesses the mediating role of the environmental disclosure index in the relationship between industry and performance.