This study employs Poisson regression to empirically analyse climate disclosure by mid-cap firms in India. We have developed a Climate Disclosure Index based on Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures recommendations and the Business Responsibility and Sustainability Reporting (BRSR) framework in India. Seventy-eight mid-cap firms from NSE were selected for analysis, whose required data were available from their sustainability reports and annual reports for the period 2023–2024. Additional robustness tests were conducted using sensitivity analysis through model parsimony, and subsample tests were performed to further check robustness. The study fills the gap by focusing on mid-cap companies, often neglected in the literature on corporate governance and climate change disclosure. The results find a significant relationship between gender diversity on the board, disclosure of Scope 3 emissions, presence of a sustainability committee and climate disclosure score. The empirical evidence stresses the need for improvement of BRSR baseline reporting in the revised climate disclosure regulatory framework in India. The study provides useful suggestions to policymakers to implement these recommendations and enhance the role of women and the sustainability committee in future versions of BRSR.
Sustainability has become a major factor for long-term success and a competitive advantage for family businesses. Prior research has pointed to the influence of environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices on corporate sustainability, but little attention has been paid, if any, to the investigation of how generational ownership, firm size (FS) and leadership roles moderate the perception of business success and sustainable competitive advantage (SCA) in family firms. In addressing this gap, this study explores the interrelation of these aspects with sustainability-oriented outcomes. The study employed a cross-sectional survey of family business owners, executives and managers from multiple industries. The data were gathered through a structured questionnaire, and statistical analysis was performed using t -tests and analysis of variance (ANOVA) for checking differences across ownership generations (OGs), company sizes and leadership roles. The findings reveal that multi-generational family businesses show higher perceived business success (PBS) and SCA than their first-generation counterparts. Large family businesses appear to have more capacity to implement ESG strategies successfully by utilising their financial and human resources. Moreover, leadership commitment from shareholders and founders, in particular, is crucial in integrating sustainability within the business model, whereas non-family executives have comparatively less power in driving a sustainability-driven success. These results have profound implications for family businesses, particularly regarding their sustainability initiatives in line with an emphasis on structured ESG integration, leadership commitment and well-directed policy targeting first-generation and smaller enterprises. The study thus adds to the literature on the sustainability of family businesses by providing empirical insights into the triadic interplay of ownership structure, FS and leadership in forging long-term competitive advantage.
This study examines the relationship between corporate governance mechanisms and earnings quality (EQ), with a particular focus on the moderating role of firm size in Vietnamese listed companies. Using panel data from 1,071 observations and employing generalised least squares (GLS) estimation to address econometric issues, we investigate how board independence (B_Inde), board size (B_Size), chief executive officer (CEO)-chairperson duality and board meeting frequency influence EQ, while controlling for financial leverage and COVID-19 effects. The findings reveal several important relationships. B_Inde significantly enhances EQ, with this positive effect being amplified in larger firms through significant moderation effects. B_Size demonstrates a positive relationship with EQ, contradicting concerns about coordination difficulties in larger boards. The COVID-19 pandemic significantly reduced EQ across all firms, reflecting crisis-period reporting challenges. Critically, firm size serves as a significant moderator in governance-EQ relationships. The interaction effects demonstrate that larger firms can better utilise both B_Inde and larger B_Size to enhance EQ. These results contribute to the corporate governance literature, demonstrating that optimal governance structures should be tailored to firm-specific characteristics rather than applying universal prescriptions.
The growing emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance has repositioned corporate boards as central actors in shaping firms’ sustainability trajectories, particularly within emerging markets characterised by institutional complexity. While prior governance research has predominantly examined board diversity through a single-dimensional lens, empirical evidence remains limited on how multiple diversity attributes jointly influence sustainability outcomes in Shariah-compliant firms. Addressing this gap, this study investigates the effects of multidimensional board diversity, encompassing gender, ethnicity and religiosity, on both ESG performance and financial outcomes among Shariah-compliant, public listed companies in Malaysia. Using an unbalanced panel data set covering 186 firms from 2019 to 2023, fixed-effects regressions are employed to account for unobserved firm-specific heterogeneity. The findings reveal that board gender diversity consistently exerts a strong positive influence on ESG performance and return on equity (ROE), underscoring its role as a strategic governance resource rather than a symbolic compliance mechanism. Ethnic diversity is also positively associated with ESG outcomes, reflecting the governance value of cultural representation in Malaysia’s multiethnic corporate environment. In contrast, religiosity exhibits a more nuanced and context-dependent relationship, suggesting that religious affiliation alone may be insufficient to drive sustainability outcomes without complementary institutional mechanisms. This study contributes to the corporate governance literature by advancing a multidimensional conceptualisation of board diversity within an Islamic governance setting. The findings offer important implications for regulators, policymakers and boards seeking to strengthen ESG integration through inclusive and context-sensitive governance structures.
This review examines the configurations of corporate governance mechanisms and their influence on sustainable development outcomes. Drawing on critical theoretical frameworks, including agency theory, stakeholder theory and resource dependence theory, the review explores how board composition, executive compensation and ownership structures impact environmental, social and governance performance. By addressing cultural, regulatory and industry-specific contexts, this article highlights how these factors shape the effectiveness of governance mechanisms in promoting sustainability. Methodological choices are discussed, with attention to the limitations of excluding non-empirical and non-firm-level studies. The review also underscores the need for greater inclusion of participatory governance and community engagement practices to drive meaningful sustainability outcomes. Case studies and examples illustrate practical applications of these governance mechanisms in diverse settings. The review concludes by identifying critical research gaps. It offers recommendations for future studies, emphasising the need for longitudinal and mixed-method approaches to deepen understanding of governance’s role in sustainable development. These findings provide actionable insights for scholars, practitioners and policymakers seeking to enhance corporate governance to support global sustainability goals.
This study delves into the relationship between corporate governance and corporate investment, specifically examining how institutional quality and the different stages of a firm’s life cycle can influence this relationship. Utilising a panel data framework, the analysis focuses on a sample of 548 non-financial listed Indian companies over the time span from 2010–2011 to 2022–2023. An investigation into the relationship between governance and investment is conducted using a fixed-effect regression model. To ensure the reliability of the findings, additional analyses are performed on subsamples, alternative proxies for corporate governance are considered, and a two-step system generalised method of moments approach is utilised. The findings provide strong evidence of a positive correlation between corporate governance and corporate investment, with the quality of institutions further amplifying this impact. In addition, the study uncovers that the impact of governance on investment is more noticeable in the early, expansion and later phases of the company’s life cycle. This study stands out for its analysis of the relationship between governance and investment in a developing market, considering the company’s life cycle and the institutional quality.
The study investigates the effect of institutional quality on the corporate governance–firm performance nexus across 39 listed financial firms in South Africa via annual data from 2015 to 2022. We apply Driscoll and Kraay’s (1998) robust standard error and generalised method of moment estimation techniques to correct for cross-sectional dependence, serial correlation and endogeneity issues in this study. The study reveals a substantial positive correlation between firm performance and corporate governance metrics, including gender diversity, ethnic diversity, board size and board independence. This implies that having a large, independent, gender-based and ethnically diverse board improves company performance. In addition, all the indicators of institutional quality are found to enhance firm performance, while the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance in the industry is found to be strongly and negatively moderated by institutional quality. This suggests that corporate governance has a favourable impact on financial performance, but poor institutional quality weakens the beneficial and enhancing effects of corporate governance on firm performance. This research offers new insights into the importance of institutional frameworks and national governance mechanisms on the nexus between corporate governance and financial performance in the financial industry in South Africa.
Economies have been witnessing escalating cases of corporate bankruptcies, and these are rampant in emerging economies owing to weaker internal control mechanisms, as well as laxity in the implementation of corporate governance norms and regulations. This study aims to explore the impact of various corporate governance variables on the risk of corporate bankruptcy in the context of India. Data of 1,980 non-financial firms listed on the National Stock Exchange, from 2010 to 2023, were analysed using static and dynamic panel data techniques. The findings indicate that board size, proportion of independent directors and percentage of women directors reduce the chances of corporate bankruptcy, while CEO age enhances the possibility of bankruptcy. The study holds practical relevance for managers and corporates, helping in the identification of corporate governance attributes that can facilitate reduced distress for firms. It also contributes to policymaking by advising on further advancement of regulatory aspects to make stringent laws and policies.
This study builds on and extends the literature on corporate governance and environmental sustainability by investigating the moderating roles of green innovation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagement in the relationship between board gender diversity and environmental performance (EP). Using a panel data set of 439 manufacturing firms across the Latin American and Caribbean region from 2010 to 2023, we employ the generalised method of moments and the instrumental variable two-stage least square to address endogeneity concerns and ensure robust estimation. The findings reveal that greater gender diversity on corporate boards significantly enhances firms’ EP. Moreover, green innovation not only directly improves EP but also amplifies the positive influence of gender-diverse boards. Higher CSR participation strengthens the association between board gender diversity and EP, demonstrating that proactive CSR activities enable diverse boards to affect environmental outcomes. The data also show regional and industry variability, suggesting contextual variables shape these processes. These results show the synergy between governance structures and strategic sustainability efforts, adding to the conversation on board composition, sustainable innovation and CSR. Policymakers, practitioners and stakeholders seeking inclusive governance and ecologically responsible business behaviour may learn from the research.
The inclusion of non-financial information in corporate reports marks a significant advancement in business communication. It enhances corporate participation and transparency through sustainability reporting in environmental, social, economic and governance aspects. This study adopts a hybrid approach, combining bibliometric analysis and a systematic literature review of the most influential works on sustainability reporting from 2015 to 2024. Using the PRISMA protocol, 122 articles from the Scopus database were analysed. Key findings reveal publication patterns, the most cited countries and articles, as well as the most influential affiliations and keywords, which indicate the main drivers of sustainability reporting practices. The study also applies the Theory, Context and Methodology framework by integrating stakeholder, institutional and legitimacy theories to provide a comprehensive understanding of sustainability reporting. The findings show a notable increase in research activity since 2018, with major contributions from Italy, Spain and Australia. Sixty per cent of the studies adopt qualitative research methods and focus on emerging themes such as the alignment of sustainability reporting with financial performance, environmental sustainability, and technological advancements. These studies provide valuable theoretical insights that help lay the foundation for the further development of sustainability reporting. This research offers policymakers, governments and academic partners actionable insights, a framework for addressing research gaps, and strategies for advancing sustainability reporting practices.
Using quarterly data from 347 Indian companies spanning 11 years, this study investigates how audit committee structures and firm performance affect institutional investors and also examines whether institutional investors influence firm performance. More specifically, it delves into whether top auditors, audit committee size and percentage of independent directors influence both institutional investors (domestic institutional investor (DII) and foreign institutional investor (FII), respectively). Through the application of a vector autoregression (VAR) model, it comes to light that the percentage of independent directors on audit committees has a large impact on FII, suggesting that improved governance procedures draw in foreign investment. Conversely, DII is driven by audit committee size, suggesting larger audit committees may be regarded as having broader supervision powers, giving a stronger sense of confidence. Moreover, the analysis demonstrates that firm performance, as measured by Tobin’s Q, is significantly impacted by FII but not by DII. These results emphasise the critical role of independent directors in attracting foreign investments and enhancing firm performance, highlighting the complex preferences of foreign and domestic institutional investors. Therefore, firms should optimise audit committee composition to match global governance norms and cost efficiency, and also simultaneously address FIIs’ concerns. Policymakers should revise governance standards to strike a balance between global norms and operational efficiency, ensuring that FIIs and DIIs are not discouraged. Practitioners should monitor FII activities to align their influence with national objectives, reducing volatility and enhancing long-term market stability.
This study investigated the relationship between environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure and investment in R&D and the firm’s financial performance. The firm’s financial performance is measured through indicators such as financial (return on equity (ROE)), operational (return on assets (ROA)) and market performance (Tobin’s Q). The study covers sample selection in 7 years, ranging from FY 2016–2017 to FY 2022–2023, of Indian-listed firms on the Bombay Stock Exchange. This study used panel data models: multiple regression, fixed effects model and system generalised method of moments. The empirical results confirmed that the overall ESG disclosure positively correlates with ROE, ROA and Tobin’s Q. However, the results of ESG interrelated elements are measured separately by ESG disclosures. ENV, CSR and GOV disclosure reported a positive relationship across all corporate performance indicators of ROE, ROA and Tobin’s Q. The disclosure of governance and the firm’s investment in research and development (R&D) are significantly and positively correlated with corporate performance. Also, this study examines the effects of investment in R&D’s mediating role in improving ESG score and enhancing corporate performance. The study finds that ordering inferences by R&D has a more significant impact on improving ESG scores and financial performance. The study’s outcomes can be helpful to the company’s augmentation of the ESG matter disclosure and better quality in reporting and achieving ESG standards and financial performance. Further, these results benefit investors, managers and policymakers mostly.
This article examines the relationship between women chief executive officers (CEOs), CEO duality and CEO compensation on firm performance with upper echelons theory. The final sample of the study comprises 76 Indian non-financial companies listed on the National Stock Exchange from 2019 to 2024. The secondary database CMIE Prowess and companies’ annual reports were used to collect the variables of the study. Both random effects model and fixed effects model were employed for analysis. The results of the study reveal that both women CEOs and CEO duality have a positive but insignificant impact on return on assets (ROA), whereas CEO compensation has a significantly positive association with ROA. Additionally, the results also indicate that women CEOs and CEO compensation have an insignificant association, while CEO duality has a statistically significant and positive association with return on equity. The study is beneficial to policymakers and regulators in making long-run sustainable decisions.
This research examines how corporate governance aligns with Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), emphasising how governance frameworks may encourage moral decision-making and ecologically conscious actions. This highlights the significance of adopting a comprehensive strategy that involves all relevant parties, including staff members, customers, investors and communities, and starts with a board-level commitment to sustainability. Regression analysis was used to evaluate how corporate governance elements affect the Environmental Performance Index (EPI), Human Capital Index (HCI) and Human Development Index (HDI). The results show that whereas governance issues significantly affect HDI and EPI, they have a negligible effect on HCI. In particular, the study demonstrates that improved corporate governance is linked to both improved environmental performance and greater levels of human development, even if corporate board efficacy might sometimes have a detrimental influence on environmental results. To link corporate governance with SDGs, this study emphasises the need for accountability and openness. It also emphasises the importance of including sustainability concerns in risk management and performance assessments. Businesses may make a significant contribution to global sustainability and long-term prosperity that benefits the environment and society by coordinating corporate governance with SDGs.
Many countries rely on taxes as their primary source of revenue to raise budget revenues and fund national development. Taxation performs numerous functions by favourably influencing a country’s investment, education, social and economic development. Nevertheless, tax authorities require assistance with the problem of tax non-compliance, which hinders tax collection and administration. Tax avoidance is a tactic that businesses use to limit their tax liabilities by taking advantage of legal gaps in tax legislation. It is one type of non-compliance with tax laws. Tax avoidance is the practice of a business using a certain tax approach in the hopes that it will not be legally audited or questioned. However, this can be dangerous if the tax strategies are thought to be illegal. Despite applying corporate governance principles within listed corporations, the problem of corporate tax revenues in Malaysia remains a source of worry, as they account for a major amount of the government’s total income collection. As a result, good governance processes may provide greater tax avoidance supervision among Malaysian enterprises, thus improving the company’s integrity and aligning it with the national Sustainable Development Goal strategy. Nonetheless, few studies integrate good governance techniques into common governance mechanisms for tracking tax avoidance, especially in Malaysia, an emerging nation. This study aims to determine how corporate governance monitoring systems affect tax avoidance. A secondary data analysis will be carried out based on the reported financial statements of Malaysian listed firms from 2018 to 2022 (5 years). The data for this investigation are analysed using STATA software. The findings of this study show that corporate social responsibility has a weak, significant negative impact on tax avoidance, and foreign ownership has a weak, significant positive impact on tax avoidance. Meanwhile, leverage (control variable) shows a significant positive impact on tax avoidance.
As organisations increasingly seek to promote environmental sustainability through green human resource management (GHRM), understanding the role of corporate governance in fostering employee environmental behaviours becomes crucial. Prior research suggests that corporate governance mechanisms, particularly ethical leadership (EL), play a vital role in building employee trust and commitment towards environmental initiatives, yet this relationship remains understudied in emerging economies. This study examines how EL and GHRM shape employee green behaviour (EGB) through psychological ownership in the Indian context. Using data collected from 343 employees and employing partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM), the analysis is divided into two sections: a measurement model to ensure accuracy and validity, and a structural model to test hypotheses. Results revealed that EL and GHRM practices account for 62% of the variance in psychological green climate (PGC) and 58% in green behaviour. Notably, psychological ownership was found to partially mediate the relationship between PGC and green behaviour. This study contributes significantly to leadership and sustainability literature, while offering actionable insights for organisations promoting pro-environmental behaviours among employees. The findings provide a foundation for future research in organisational environmental management and the development of more effective sustainability strategies.
