Carbon Emission Disclosure and the Cost of Capital: An Analysis of Malaysian Capital Market

Abstract

The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between voluntary disclosure and cost of capital by exploring the impact of voluntary carbon emission disclosure (VCED) on the firm's weighted-average cost of capital. A carbon disclosure index is used to evaluate the quality of carbon emission disclosure in 2013 and 2014 annual reports of 247 Malaysian public listed companies. By using content analysis, the result highlights a significant increase in the level and quality of carbon emission disclosure practice from 2013 to 2014. In addition, the finding from regression analysis indicates insignificant relationship between VCED quality and weighted-average cost of capital. Overall, our findings suggest that the carbon emission disclosure is still low, as such, the quality of VCED do not have an impact on firm's cost of capital. The results of the study allow the government to measure progress toward achieving its target to reduce carbon emission and will add weight to the call by accounting regulation body such as Malaysian Accounting Standard Board for a specific standard on carbon reporting.