Mandatory CSR and Sustainability Reporting: Economic Analysis and Literature Review

This study is a revision and extension of an earlier, independent research report prepared for the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) in 2018. The full report is available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3315673. The Internet appendix accompanying the report provides a structured overview of the CSR literature and is available at: http://ssrn.com/abstract=3313793. We thank Andreea Moraru-Arfire for her excellent research assistance. We also thank an anonymous referee, Paul Fischer (editor), Clarissa Hauptmann, Louis Kaplow, Karl Lins, Giovanna Michelon, Stefan Reichelstein, George Serafeim, Kathryn Spier, and participants at the Harvard Law, Economics, and Organization workshop, the Fall Corporate Roundtable of the Institute for Law and Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Miami webinar for their helpful comments. We also thank Jeffrey Hales, Robert Herz, Lloyd Kurtz, Elisse Walter, and Jean Rogers from the SASB for helpful comments on earlier drafts of the aforementioned research report. The views expressed herein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

• August 13, 2019