Search Results (46)

This study focuses on highway service areas. Building upon prior research that identified key influencing factors through surveys and ISM–MICMAC analysis, it constructs a tripartite evolutionary game model involving the government, service area operators, and carbon reduction technology providers based on stakeholder theory. Combined with MATLAB simulations, the model reveals the dynamic patterns of the carbon reduction system. The results indicate that government strategies exert the strongest influence on the system and catalyze the other two parties, followed by service area operators. Carbon reduction technology providers adopt a more cautious stance in decision-making. Government actions shape system evolution through a “cost-benefit-incentive” triple mechanism, with its strategies exhibiting significant spillover effects on other actors. Enterprise behavior is markedly influenced by Xinjiang’s regional characteristics, where the core barriers to corporate carbon reduction lie in the costs of proactive equipment and technological investments. The willingness of technology providers to cooperate primarily depends on two drivers: incremental baseline benefits and enhanced economies of scale. The core trade-off in government decision-making lies between the cost of strong regulation (Cg1) and the cost of environmental governance under weak regulation (Cg2). An increase in Cg1 prolongs the government’s convergence time by 233.3% and indirectly suppresses the willingness of enterprises and technology providers due to weakened subsidy capacity. Enterprises are relatively sensitive to the investment costs of carbon reduction equipment and technology, with convergence time extending by 120%. Technology providers are highly sensitive to incremental baseline returns (Rt), with stabilization time extending by 500%. Compared to existing research, this model quantitatively reveals the “cost-benefit-incentive” triple transmission mechanism for carbon reduction coordination in “grid-end” regions, identifying key parameters for strategic shifts among stakeholders. Based on this, corresponding policy recommendations are provided for all three parties, offering precise and actionable directions for the sustainable advancement of carbon reduction efforts in service areas. The research conclusions can provide a replicable collaborative framework for decarbonizing transportation infra-structure in grid-end regions with high clean energy endowments. Full article

This paper examines the interrelationship between Corporate Governance (CG), Internal Control System (ICS), and Organizational Performance (OP), with a particular focus on the effectiveness of the ICS in relation to the quality of its components. Drawing on recent literature and empirical evidence, the study demonstrates that strong governance frameworks—characterized by board independence, effective audit committees, and proactive risk management—are closely linked to robust internal control environments. Together, these mechanisms enhance transparency, reduce risks, and foster stakeholder trust. The analysis further highlights that governance and internal control are evolving beyond compliance, increasingly serving as strategic levers for creating sustainable value. The findings underscore important implications for practitioners and policymakers. Organizations are encouraged to strengthen internal controls, invest in audit and risk management capacity, and embed ethical and sustainability considerations into governance structures. Regulators, in turn, should support frameworks that promote both accountability and innovation. Overall, the study contributes to a deeper understanding of how governance and control mechanisms can secure organizational resilience and drive long-term performance in a rapidly changing business environment. Full article

This study examines the relationship between corporate emission reduction policies (ERPs) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, with a particular focus on the moderating role of corporate governance (CG). Drawing on a dataset of 18,545 firm-year observations from 28 developed and emerging countries spanning 2013 to 2024, the analysis finds that firms with stronger corporate governance and higher ERP adoption exhibit significantly better emission intensity. These results remain robust across multiple specifications, including alternative GHG performance metrics, corporate governance proxies, and emission-intensity measures. Beyond the cross-sectional analysis, firm-level trend regressions show that improvements in a firm’s ERPs relative to the sector average are associated with reductions in emission intensity over time. The findings highlight the critical role of robust corporate governance in mitigating greenwashing risks and ensuring the credibility of corporate climate commitments. By emphasizing the interplay between corporate governance and ERPs, the study contributes to the literature on climate governance and corporate environmental strategy. It also offers practical implications for investors and regulators, underlining the need to assess not only ERP commitments but also the governance structures that determine their effectiveness. Full article

This study explores the relationship between institutional shareholders and climate-related disclosure (CRD) and how sustainability committees influence this relationship among publicly listed Malaysian firms. For the analysis, 990 firm-year observations were studied from 198 highly polluting firms from 2021 to 2024. A strong CRD index was designed using the recognized climate reporting frameworks and well-grounded literature to assess the level of climate-related disclosure. Fixed-effects and hierarchical panel regression models show that CRD increases when institutional investor ownership increases, meaning firms with more institutional investors disclose more information on climate-related topics. In addition, a sustainability committee at the board level greatly improves this relationship by highlighting the positive impact of strong internal governance. As a result, such committees establish climate management and improve communication with investors, making the firm’s actions more transparent. The findings of this study are consistent with agency and legitimacy theories because institutional investors assist in monitoring firms’ environmental performance, and sustainability committees help the company maintain these standards internally. Further, this study helps grow the understanding of corporate governance (CG) and sustainability by pointing out that the presence of institutional owners and sustainability committees can promote openness about climate matters. Accordingly, these findings can guide policymakers, investors, and business leaders in boosting responsible environmental reporting and sustainable business practices in developing countries. Full article

This research examines how corporate governance (CG) affects corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure with government ownership as a moderation factor by analyzing panel data from 30 industrial firms listed on the Amman Stock Exchange during 2018–2022. The study employed board of directors and audit committee characteristics as independent variables to represent CG while developing a CSR disclosure index. The research controlled for company size and financial leverage in its model. The findings demonstrate that corporate governance dimensions affect CSR disclosure, while government ownership significantly enhances this relationship in a positive direction. Government ownership increases R² values, which shows that corporate governance merged with government ownership modifies the corporate governance and CSR disclosure relationship by strengthening the impact when government stakes rise. Statistical analysis revealed that board independence, board duality, audit committee size and independence, along with audit committee meeting frequency, all had positive effects on CSR disclosure. The study found no statistically significant effect of board size, frequency of board meetings, or the financial expertise of audit committee members on CSR disclosure. Based on the findings, this study outlines recommendations to strengthen governance practices that support social disclosure. Full article

This study examines the effect of female representation in boardrooms on Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) disclosure in listed firms in Saudi Arabia. The study examined 200 highly polluting firms from 2019 to 2023 and constructed a robust ESG disclosure index with 62 items benchmarked against international and Saudi ESG disclosure-related guidelines, as well as well-grounded literature. The findings show that female representation on firm boards is positively and significantly associated with ESG disclosure, suggesting that Saudi-listed firms that ensure and promote female representation on their boards are more likely to provide more comprehensive ESG disclosures than others. The results highlight the role of board diversity in governance reforms and its alignment with Saudi Vision 2030’s gender inclusion goals. This study contributes to the corporate governance (CG) and sustainability literature by emphasizing how board gender diversity strengthens ESG reporting, regulatory compliance, and corporate resilience. The introduced findings are relevant for policymakers, investors, and corporate leaders seeking to foster sustainable business practices and improve ESG performance in emerging markets. Full article

The readability (RDB) of annual reports (ARs) plays a crucial role in determining the effectiveness of disclosure of information to interested parties, particularly investors. Given that investors rely on the financial information provided in ARs, the chairman’s letter serves as a key communication tool and is the most extensively read section of the report. Consequently, companies are under pressure to provide understandable ARs that can be easily interpreted by investors. Nevertheless, managers sometimes obscure such disclosures in an attempt to bury negative information and hide their own behavior. Drawing from the “managerial obfuscation hypothesis”, this study investigated how the corporate governance (CG) structures affect the RDB of ARs for a sample of 95 banks across seven countries in the MENA region from 2018 to 2022. The findings revealed that board size, frequency of board meetings, and ownership concentration significantly affected the RDB of ARs. Additionally, board independence and gender diversity had a significant negative effect on ARs’ RDB. Conversely, the study found that the presence of role duality within the board had an insignificant effect on ARs’ RDB. As a result, this study recommends enhancing CG structures to enhance the clarity of banks’ reports and boost investor trust. Full article

This paper aims to evaluate corporate governance in relation to enterprise performance indicators in order to enhance it. The intention is not only to align with the interests of shareholders, but also to foster competitive, sustainable, and inclusive growth. For this purpose, the leading energy producer in each of the five countries—Denmark, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Sweden—was investigated to evaluate their corporate governance performance. An analysis was conducted, employing regression analysis, Pearson correlation, and descriptive statistics. The influence of corporate governance on the performance of chosen enterprises was examined, utilising specifically developed models. The findings reveal that the corporate governance variables are diverse, and financial metrics exhibit significant variability, reflecting the complexity of the energy industry. The research results confirm that larger and more varied boards positively impact the performance of state-owned power suppliers and increase their net income. The presence of independent members was also found to contribute to the net income growth of state-owned power suppliers. However, the study indicated that the frequency of audit meetings does not necessarily increase earnings. Still, larger audit committees can contribute to CG decision-making processes concerning debt management. The results also implied the need to consider the qualifications of the board members and its composition for proper power interruption management to minimise the frequency and duration of power outages. Therefore, it must be of pivotal focus for respective corporate governance duties. In this respect, the need for more specific and regular assessments was also found to be justified regarding industry-specific challenges related to power system disruptions. Customer-centric strategies should deserve relevant attention as well. The enforcement of the management audit function could be a solution. Consequently, assessing the governance structures and decision-making processes must be systematic for energy producers due to the business dynamics leading to the revaluation of the evolving challenges and possible solutions aimed at the competitive and sustainable development of the energy sector. Full article

The corporate strategic planning of businesses in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) largely focuses on immediate financial performance with minimal credence to social sustainability. Thus, studies on the linkage between corporate governance (CG) and sustainability reporting have focused on developed economies. This study therefore investigated the role of institutional ownership in the impact of board committee characteristics on social sustainability reporting. This study involved strongly balanced panel data with 1969 observations of 275 publicly listed non-financial firms in SSA within the timeframe of 2012 to 2021. Data were analyzed using STATA 14.1. The hypotheses were tested using the two-step system of the generalized method of moment (GMM) using the Arellano–Bond dynamic panel data estimation method. The rate of social sustainability reporting was 39.4%. Relatively, Mauritian and South African firms had the most effective board committee characteristics and higher levels of social sustainability reporting. Although institutional ownership had no significant effect on social sustainability reporting, it moderated the effect of sustainability committee independence and sustainability committee gender diversity on social sustainability reporting. This paper presents a new perspective on the corporate governance and social sustainability literature by examining the effect of institutional ownership on board committee characteristics and social sustainability reporting in SSA. In terms of policy implication, there is the need for mandatory regulatory and legal CG framework that is regularly updated at national and regional levels in SSA to motivate listed firms to establish sustainability committees with efficient characteristics to promote social sustainability reporting. Full article

The objective of this research paper is to investigate the association between internal Corporate Governance (CG) mechanisms and stock price volatility in Egypt as an emerging market. The paper investigates the impact of ownership structure and board structure as internal CG mechanisms on stock price volatility. Data are analyzed using a two-way fixed effects model, a one-step dynamic panel data model, and a panel weighted least squares model. The study concluded that ownership concentration has a negative influence on volatility. Interestingly, an inverted U-shaped relationship between the percentage of ownership by the greatest shareholder and volatility is evidenced. Managerial ownership also showed a negative influence on volatility. As for board structure mechanisms, the findings show that both board size and frequency of board meetings negatively influence volatility, whereas board independence has a positive impact. Full article

This study examines the relationship between corporate governance (CG) and agency costs using Korean market data, particularly for chaebol firms. The final sample includes 660 firm-year observations between 2016 and 2020 for Korean non-financial firms listed on the Korean Composite Stock Price Index (KOSPI). This study employs an ordinary least-squares panel data regression model using two proxies for agency costs, namely, asset utilization ratio and operating expense ratio, and six CG individual metrics as independent variables (CG score, protection of shareholder rights, board structure, disclosure, audit organization, and managerial discretion and error management). We find that firms with high CG experience lower agency costs than those with low CG. Moreover, our evidence suggests that firms can decrease agency costs by improving the quality of CG. The results of our regression model also support the idea that CG is effective in reducing agency costs for chaebol firms but not for non-chaebol firms. Finally, our findings suggest that the implementation of effective CG mechanisms in firms might improve managerial behavior through better decision-making to maximize the value of firms. Full article

Academics and professionals alike are highly interested in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), Corporate Governance (CG), environmental, social, and governance (ESG) and corporate non-financial reporting (CNFR) and how they can improve a brand’s reputation, financial efficiency, and sustainability within businesses and organisations. The main objective of our study was to examine whether the financial data of large companies can be correlated with the data in their non-financial reports and provide information on the level of corporate governance and corporate responsibility and to examine the correlation between them. For this purpose, we conducted research by examining the 100 largest companies in Greece, over a period of 3 years, collecting both financial and non-financial data from their official reports. Using appropriate quantitative tools such as similarity, classification and econometric methods (stepwise method and panel least-squares method), the correlations between the data for CSR, CG and non-financial actions and key financial performance ratios are evaluated. Our research has revealed a strong link between financial performance and ESG actions of large companies and, in particular, we demonstrated the positive correlation of CSR performance with their total assets and whether they are listed on the stock exchange, and of CG with CSR and EBITDA. This study adds to the existing academic discourse on the relationship between financial and non-financial information of corporations in the areas of Corporate Responsibility and Governance and provides a valuable way to assess the decisions of businesses. Full article

This study examines the moderating function of corporate governance (CG) to the relationship between leverage and firm value (FV) using Korean market data. The study employs ordinary least-squares panel data regressions and two methods to manage endogeneity problems. The findings show a meaningful negative relationship between leverage and FV. This relationship, however, disappears, when the interaction variable of leverage × CG is included in the econometric model. These results indicate that an effective CG mechanism may lessen the probability of either the entrenched management-decision-making behavior or the agency costs of debt and, therefore, the negative effect of debt to FV diminishes. Moreover, our data show that the relationship between leverage and FV becomes positive, even though insignificant, for firms with a high level of CG, whereas it stays significantly negative for firms with a low level of CG. We also find that leverage for firms with a high level of CG is lower than those firms with a low level of CG. These additional findings support our conclusion of the moderating role of CG, which also influences the firms’ risk, leverage, and FV. The authors recommend the implementation of a robust CG plan to decrease the information asymmetry and the agency leverage problem. Full article

Earlier research has shown that the makeup of the corporate board is a crucial predictor in meeting stakeholder accountability expectations through voluntary Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure. Though scholars have identified substantial relationships between board composition and CSR disclosure, the majority of their focus has been on the ‘quantity’ of CSR disclosure rather than the ‘quality’. Therefore, the present study considers the association of board characteristics (such as gender diversity, independence, female chairperson or/and female CEO, and board size) and the quality of CSR disclosure of the top 100 Pakistan Stock Exchange (PSX)-listed companies. We conducted content analysis of secondary Corporate Governance (CG) and CSR data extracted from the annual reports of PSX-listed companies across ten industrial sectors from the period 2017 to 2018. Our empirical investigation through univariate and multiple regression analysis with ordinary least squares (OLS) techniques revealed that all the board characteristics potentially had a significant association to lower CSR disclosure quality. Using the 2SLS regression model, we addressed the endogeneity issue of board characteristics and found robust results. One of the important implications of our findings is that policymakers and regulators in developing countries like Pakistan should review the value of board qualities as outlined in CG principles and develop stronger mechanisms to improve numbers of female directors and nonexecutive directors’ independence. We acknowledge several research limitations, including the study time period and selected board characteristics. While our study has provided some understanding of the association of board characteristics with CSR disclosure quality of PSX-listed companies, several research gaps still need to be addressed. Future investigators should examine this association through the pre-COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 contexts and the inclusion of a systems theory perspective. Full article

The purpose of this study is to determine if the impact of transparency and disclosure (TD) levels on shareholders’ current income (dividends) is moderated by technical efficiency (te) and profitability. The study employs econometrics on panel data from 78 BSE-listed enterprises across the 2016–2020 sample period. This conclusion suggests that when TD grows, dividends tend to drop initially, but above a certain threshold level, growing TD levels lead to increased payouts. Furthermore, dividends are adversely associated with the moderating variable “te” in terms of both constant and variable return to scale. On the other hand, moderation by profitability was shown to have a substantially favourable effect on dividends. According to this study, a company’s dividend policy is influenced by its TD levels, which are controlled by its efficiency and profitability. Developing a TD index provides more information on the efficacy of the corporate governance (CG) system. The study’s distinctiveness lies in examining the relationships between transparency, disclosures, and these aspects as they relate to profitability, efficiency, and dividend distribution choices to ascertain whether the companies’ operating effectiveness and financial success matter in this circumstance. The study’s practical and policy implications relate to societal repercussions, which include encouraging more openness and responsibility in business practices, thereby increasing confidence and accountability in decisions about dividend distribution, regardless of efficiency and profitability. The study’s originality is in examining how profitability, efficiency, and dividend distribution decisions relate to transparency and disclosures to determine if companies’ operating efficiency and financial success matter in this situation. Full article