Do level, field, and place of board members' Education impact financial risk disclosure? A Saudi Empirical evidence.

ABSTRACT

This study aims to investigate the effect of board attributes (level, field, and place of education) on corporate financial risk disclosure in the Saudi energy sector. The research focuses on four energy companies listed between 2009 and 2021, resulting in 52 firm-year observations. Panel regressions were implemented to control for heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation. The study's results revealed that education level positively influences financial risk disclosure, whereas the impacts of place and field of education are not well-established. Moreover, the study explored the moderating role of education attributes in financial risk disclosure, indicating that companies with fewer highly educated board members who received their education from foreign universities other than those in Saudi Arabia are more inclined to disclose financial risks transparently. These findings suggest an essential need to diversify the level and place of education among directors, which holds significant implications for corporate governance policy-makers.