Social Audits and the Transmission of ESG Disclosure Regulations in Supply Chains

社會審計與強制ESG披露在供應鏈上的傳導效應

Student thesis: Doctoral Thesis

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Author(s)

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Detail(s)

Awarding Institution
Supervisors/Advisors
  • Xiangang XIN (Supervisor)
  • Yutao Wang (External person) (External Supervisor)
Award date20 Sept 2024

Abstract

Social audits help customers to assess the ESG performance of their suppliers to ensure that they are working with sustainable suppliers. I find that suppliers are more likely to employ social audits following their customers’ exposure to ESG disclosure regulations, consistent with the mediating role of social audits in transmitting ESG disclosure regulations in supply chains. This effect is stronger when suppliers have poorer ESG performance or ESG disclosure prior to the regulations, when customers have stronger monitoring incentives, when suppliers possess lower bargaining power against customers and when customers face lower costs to align suppliers. I further find that suppliers which employ social audits experience ESG performance improvement and sales growth. Overall, my findings suggest that social audits work as one mechanism of customers’ monitoring of suppliers’ ESG performance and facilitate the transmission of ESG disclosure regulations in supply chains.

    Research areas

  • ESG disclosure regulations, Social audits, Supply chains