The impact of corporate environmental disclosure practices and board attributes on sustainability: Empirical evidence from Asia and Europe.

This study analyzes the impact of environmental disclosure, board attributes, and firms' specifics on the levels of environmental and ESG performance in Europe and Asia. The study utilizes secondary data from Refinitiv Eikon database for 8094 firms for the period between 2016 and 2021. The study employs panel data analysis using fixed effect models to estimate the results. The findings suggest that disclosure on emissions, innovations, environmental controversies, environmentally friendly products, proactive environmental investments, environmental expenses, and fines charged by authorities have a positive and significant influence on the level of firms' environmental and ESG performance. Furthermore, the study identifies board tenure, independence, size, and meetings as being associated with greater levels of environmental disclosures, reporting, and sustainability score. However, board diversity is found to have a limited contribution to environmental disclosures, especially in Asian countries. Additionally, the results reveal that companies with higher revenue growth, larger size and market capitalization, and better performance have greater and better disclosure of environmental and sustainability issues. The study provides practical implications for policymakers to establish comprehensive guidelines for environmental and sustainability reporting based on the analysis of institutional, regulatory frameworks, legislation, and sustainability score enforcement status of the country.

The moderating effect of liquidity on the relationship between sustainability and firms' specifics: Empirical evidence from indian manufacturing sector.

The current study attempts to examine the moderating effect of liquidity on the relationship between firms' specific and sustainability expenses. The study is based on secondary data over a period from 2015 to 2021. The results are estimated using panel data with fixed-effect models. The results indicate that liquidity enhances and strengthens the ability of a company to spend more on environmental, social, and employee compensation sustainability expenses. In the same context, the results reveal that there is an insignificant moderation effect of liquidity with the financial performance of a company, indicating that the liquidity of companies with higher financial performance does not enhance and strength their ability to spend more on sustainability expenses. Further, the extent of liquidity in larger companies affects positively and significantly the level of employee compensation but not environmental and social spending. Finally, the findings show that greater leverage with less liquidity negatively affects the levels of sustainability spending. This study provides a unique contribution to the existing literature by introducing the moderating effect of liquidity on the relationship between firms' specific and sustainability expenditures. It highlights the direct effect of firms' specific determinants and the moderating effect of liquidity on three categories of sustainability expenses which are environmental expenses, social expenses, and employee compensations. Therefore, this research has valuable implications for company managers, financial analysts, policymakers, and other stakeholders.

The moderating role of information technology governance in the relationship between board characteristics and continuity management during the Covid-19 pandemic in an emerging economy.

The main aim of the current study is to investigate the relationship between governance characteristics, information technology governance, and continuity management during Covid-19 in an emerging economy. The study also examines the moderating role of information technology governance in the relationship between governance characteristics and business continuity management. The quantitative approach is used by utilising a survey questionnaire. A sample of 232 questionnaire surveys has been collected from the board of directors, top and middle management executives, external auditors, information technology experts, and some other respondents. The results were estimated using structural equation modelling. The results indicate that information technology governance has a statistically significant effect on business continuity. Board size, board independence, audit committee independence, audit committee diligence, and external audit have a statistically significant positive effect on information technology governance. Further, the results indicate that information technology governance significantly moderates the effect of board size, board independence, board diligence, audit committee independence, audit committee diligence, and external audit on business continuity. However, information technology governance does not moderate the relationship between board committees and business continuity, which indicates less board involvement in information technology governance. The current research provides insight into the role of information technology governance in business continuity management during crises. The present study provides a unique contribution as it investigates the relationship between corporate governance characteristics, information technology governance, and business continuity management during Covid-19, providing empirical evidence from an emerging country.

The moderation role of board independence change in the relationship between board characteristics, related party transactions, and financial performance.

The present study examines the moderation effect of board independence change on the relationship between board characteristics, related party transactions and financial performance of Indian listed banks over 10 years from 2010 to 2019. While board size, independence, diligence, and remuneration were taken to represent board characteristics, all key personnel and subsidiaries' transactions were considered measures for related party transactions. On the other hand, the financial performance of banks was measured by two accounting-based measures (return on assets and profit after tax) and two market-based measures (earning per share and Tobin Q). The results revealed that board independence change has a significant negative effect on financial performance. Further, the results indicated that board independence change moderates positively and significantly the relationship between related party transactions and financial performance. The findings also showed that board independence change had a moderating effect that significantly and negatively weakens board size and effectiveness, negatively influencing banks' profitability. Unlike other studies, this study uniquely uses board independence change as a moderator between board characteristics, related party transactions, and several measures of banks' financial performance. The limited research highlighting this issue, where Indian banks have encountered several challenges in the last few years, has motivated the present study to bridge the existing gaps in the strand literature. Therefore, this research opens useful insights and has beneficial implications for policymakers, bankers, financial analysts, and academicians.

Impact of corporate governance mechanism on IFRS adoption: A comparative study of Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates.

The present study examines the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on compliance with IFRS and financial reporting quality in some selected Gulf countries. The study aims to investigate this issue using a sample of 98 firms listed in Saudi Arabia, Oman, and the United Arab Emirates over the period from 2015 up to 2018. Descriptive statistics, correlation, and regression analysis are conducted to estimate the results. The results reveal that audit committee attributes have a higher impact on compliance with IFRS and financial reporting quality than other corporate governance mechanisms. Further, the results show that there is no evidence to support that the collective effect of corporate governance mechanisms has changed to be more influential from Saudi GAAP to IFRS. The present study has several contributions and implications. It has a unique contribution as it attempts to compare the effect of corporate governance mechanisms on financial reporting quality and compliance with IFRS among a recent IFRS adopter; Saudi Arabia and early IFRS adopters; Oman and the United Arab Emirates. The study opens valuable insights to regulators, stock markets, practitioners, and academicians in this issue.