Purpose This paper aims to propose and apply a novel risk-based approach to explore whether socio-political theories explain the level of corporate environmental disclosures given inconclusive evidence on the relation between environmental disclosure and environmental performance. Design/methodology/approach Based on content analysis of corporate risk reporting, the paper develops measures of environmental risk to proxy for a firm’s exposure to public pressure in regard to environmental concerns that should be positively associated with the level of corporate environmental disclosures according to socio-political theories. Multiple regressions are used to test the predictions of socio-political theories for US Standards and Poor’s 500 constituents from polluting sectors. Findings The level of environmental disclosures is found to be positively associated with a firm’s environmental risk while unrelated to its environmental performance. The findings suggest that firms tend to provide higher levels of environmental disclosures in response to greater exposure to public pressure as depicted by broad environmental indicators. The results are robust to alternative measures of environmental disclosures, environmental risk and environmental performance, alternative specifications of the economic model and additional sensitivity checks. Research limitations/implications This study is limited to US firms in polluting sectors. The risk-based approach proposed may not be appropriate to cover sectors where corporate risk reporting is less likely to address environmental risk, but it could potentially be adopted in other countries with advanced risk reporting regulation or practice. Practical implications Findings are important to understand a firm’s incentives to disclose environmental information. Cross-sectional differences found in environmental disclosures, risk and performance, highlight the importance of considering industry affiliation when analyzing environmental data. Originality/value This paper is the first to use firm-level environmental risk variables to explain the level of corporate environmental disclosures. The risk-based approach taken suggests opportunities for research at the multi-country level and in countries where corporate environmental performance data are not publicly available.

Die Dissertation untersucht ob partizipative Governance ein effektives Mittel ist um lokale Regierungen in Guatemala dazu zu bewegen ihren Wählern gegenüber verstärkt Rechenschaft abzulegen und den Haushalt mehr an den Bedürfnissen der Armen auszu-richten. Das erste Papier bereitet die wissenschaftlichen Erkenntnisse zur Wirkung von und den Bedingungen für effektive partizipative Governance auf. Das zweite Papier stellt ein neues Verfahren zur Kalibrierung qualitativer Interviewdaten für fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA) vor. In einer qualitativ-vergleichenden Ana-lyse von zehn ländlichen Gemeinden untersucht das dritte Papier wie sich effektive par-tizipative Governance, politischer Wettbewerb und Zugang zu lokalen Medien auf die Haushaltsgestaltung einer Lokalregierung auswirken. Das vierte Papier analysiert mit derselben Methode die Bedingungen für effektive partizipative Governance. Das fünfte Papier präsentiert eine Fallstudie zweier Gemeinden und diskutiert Politikoptionen für die Implementierung von partizipativer Governance in Guatemala. Die Ergebnisse der Papiere zeigen, dass effektive partizipative Governance in Kombination mit starkem politischem Wettbewerb zu einer armutsorientierteren Ausrichtung öffentlicher Ausga-ben in den zehn Gemeinden führt, da Wähler besser informiert sind. Jedoch deuten die Ergebnisse auch darauf hin, dass partizipative Governance wegen des geringen Grades zivilgesellschaftlicher Organisation, des niedrigen Bildungsniveaus und hoher Armut in Guatemala nicht effektiv implementiert wird. Partizipative Governance kann also lokale Regierungen dazu bewegen Rechenschaft abzulegen und den Haushalt armutsorientier-ter zu gestalten. Ihre effektive Implementierung wird jedoch in Guatemala lange dauern und einen hohen Ressourceneinsatz erfordern. Daher sollten politische Entscheidungs-träger und Geber auch die Stärkung anderer Informations- und Rechenschaftslegungs-mechanismen, wie der Gemeinderäte, in Betracht ziehen. / This thesis analyses whether participatory governance is an effective means for increas-ing local government accountability and for making local government spending more responsive to the needs of the poor in rural Guatemala. The first paper evaluates the scientific evidence on the impact of and the conditions for effective participatory gov-ernance. The second paper presents a new technique for calibrating qualitative interview data for fuzzy-set Qualitative Comparative Analysis (fsQCA). In a qualitative compara-tive analysis of ten rural Guatemalan municipalities the third paper examines how effec-tive participatory governance, competitive elections, and access to local media influence the allocation of local government spending. The fourth paper analyses the conditions for effective participatory governance with the same empirical method. The fifth paper presents a comparative case study of two municipalities and discusses policy options for implementing participatory governance in Guatemala. Overall, the papers’ findings show that effective participatory governance is sufficient for local government responsiveness in the study area when it is combined with competitive elections, because it increases voter information about local government performance. Yet, the findings also suggest that it will be difficult to implement participatory governance effectively in Guatemala due to the low degree of civil society organization, the low level of education of the population and the high level of poverty. The conclusion drawn from these findings is that effective participatory governance arrangements can make local governments more accountable and responsive, but that it will require much time and resources to implement them. Policy makers and donors should therefore also consider strengthening other information mechanisms, as well as existing accountability mechanisms, such as elected Municipal Councils.