Date of Award
Spring 2022
Degree Type
Thesis
Department
Moore School of Business
Director of Thesis
Dr. Feng Yeo
First Reader
Dr. Aaron Zimbelman
Second Reader
Dr. Aaron Zimbelman
Abstract
Several studies find that environmental reporting is significant to investors’ decision-making. Here, the effect of German and US-American cultures on nonprofessional investors’ judgments when given positive or negative environmental reports is examined. Two experiments were conducted, one with US students recruited locally and German participants recruited online and the other with all participants recruited online to ensure more similar samples. In both experiments, in line with previous research, environmental reporting has a significant impact on nonprofessional investors’ decision-making process. In addition, the first experiment shows that German nonprofessional investors are more likely to penalize firms for poor environmental ratings however this was not reflected in the second experiment. Further analysis conducted on the second experiment shows that, as compared to German nonprofessional investors, altruism is a stronger determinant of US-American nonprofessional investors’ reaction to good environmental reports. While other authors have conducted similar research on the effect of CSR information on nonprofessional investors, this thesis is unique because it explores the effect of culture.
First Page
1
Last Page
68
Recommended Citation
Nietert, Jackson M., "Effects of Firm Environmental and Sustainability Performance on Nonprofessional Investors’ Judgments: A Comparison Between the United States and Germany" (2022). Senior Theses. 491.
https://scholarcommons.sc.edu/senior_theses/491
Rights
© 2022, Jackson M Nietert