Flight to ESG Transparency: Evidence from Foreign Government Procurement Contracts

Abstract:

This study examines whether improved environmental, social, and governance (ESG) transparency enhances firms’ competitiveness for foreign government procurement contracts. Exploiting the staggered adoption of mandatory ESG disclosure requirements across countries, we find that, following the ESG disclosure mandate, firms in the treated countries are more likely to receive foreign governments’ procurement contracts and contracts with higher values than their counterparts in the control countries. This effect is more pronounced for green contracts, suppliers with enhanced ESG disclosure quality after the mandate, and purchasing governments exhibiting a higher degree of ESG consciousness. Moreover, the effect is stronger when suppliers face more intensive competition. Channel tests indicate that the ESG disclosure mandate affects global allocation of government procurements through two channels: increased ESG disclosure and improved ESG performance. Our findings shed light on the role of ESG transparency in contracting with foreign governments.