How does mandatory climate change disclosure affect corporate social responsibility? Evidence from US-listed firms

With the issuance of Commission Guidance Regarding Disclosure Related to Climate Change as a quasi-natural experiment, we employ a difference-in-differences model to examine the causal effect of mandatory climate change disclosure on corporate social responsibility performance. The results show that mandatory climate change disclosure significantly improves corporate social responsibility performance. In addition, we observe that the relationship between mandatory climate change disclosure and corporate social responsibility performance is stronger when firms are headquartered in Democratic states or with high institutional shareholders ownership. Finally, enhancing executive climate change attention is the channel through which mandatory climate change disclosure improves corporate social responsibility performance. This paper provides insights into the effectiveness of mandatory climate change disclosure in influencing corporate social responsibility and provides a theoretical basis for governments to promote corporate social responsibility governance through mandatory disclosure policy tools. © 2026 Published by Elsevier Ltd.