On the EPA's Radar: The Role of Financial Reports in Environmental Regulatory Oversight
研究了美国环保局（EPA）如何直接调取企业的SEC财务报告，发现EPA在高污染行业、执法调查和重大规则制定时更频繁使用这些报告，以获取流动性、偿债能力和盈利能力信息。
ABSTRACT This paper investigates the role of corporate financial reports in the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) regulatory activities. By tracking the EPA's direct retrieval of SEC filings, we identify three key findings. First, the EPA retrieves a large volume of financial reports, especially from firms in high‐pollution industries. Second, the EPA is more likely to access financial reports during enforcement investigations and significant rule proposals, but less so during compliance monitoring, with patterns varying predictably across firms. Third, the EPA's reliance on financial reports is potentially driven by its demand for information on firm liquidity, solvency, and profitability. Overall, our study highlights the usefulness of financial reports for the EPA as an environmental regulator.