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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. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the effect of the characteristics of the board of directors on the accrual and real earnings management level, focusing on the role of the corruption level. The employed dataset consists of 469 European-listed firms from 2011 to 2019. Using a fixed-effect panel data regression model, the results documented that larger boards lack coordination and communication in less corrupt economies, facilitating earnings manipulation through accruals and sales. In highly corrupt countries, oversized boards are associated with increased manipulation of production costs and discretionary expenses. Board meetings are positively related to accrual and sales manipulation in low-corruption countries, and board independence leads to reducing discretionary expenses regardless of corruption level. Board tenure negatively affects accruals and discretionary expenses but tends to increase manipulation through production costs in low-corruption contexts. Additionally, when the CEO serves as the board chairman, it encourages the manipulation of discretionary expenses while reducing real earnings manipulation through sales and production costs. In aggregate, the level of corruption can influence a board's effectiveness under specific conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the complex joint effect of firm and board characteristics on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure by Chinese listed banks, viewed from a configurational perspective. By utilizing fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA) on a sample of 33 Chinese listed banks from 2020, we obtained results that explain some of the inconsistent findings in the current literature and suggest that four specific configurations of firm and board characteristics are equally conducive to high levels of ESG disclosure. Specifically, bank attributes (i.e., size, state ownership, and cross-listing) are the most salient aspects of promoting ESG disclosure, but the final effect relies on a combination of these attributes and other board characteristics (i.e., board size, independence, gender diversity, and a corporate social responsibility committee). We demonstrate the significance of employing configurational thinking to evaluate corporate governance in relation to ESG disclosure. Our findings indicate that the connection between board characteristics and high levels of ESG disclosure varies according to bank attributes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to examine the impacts of board size, gender diversity and independence on ESG performance whilst also examining the impact of country-level social trust on such performance. We perform a panel data analysis and the least squares method for a sample of 75 European banks and a time span of 4 years from 2016 to 2019. We find that ESG performance is positively associated with board gender diversity and independence, and negatively associated with board size. Surprisingly, we find a negative relationship between country-level social trust and ESG performance. This is an important finding that we interpret as being related to the loss of confidence in the banking sector in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis. To regain such trust, the banking sector is likely to have suffered higher social pressure to engage in ESG activities in countries where social trust is lower. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the impact of board characteristics (such as board size, board independence, CEO Duality, board meetings, and committee) on corporate sustainability reporting (CSR) in China. Unlike previous studies, we examine this relationship in light of the three pillars of corporate sustainability reporting: economic, environmental, and social. Using both the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) and Dynamics Ordinary Least Square (DOLS) empirical models, our data, which comprises 9842 firm-year observations from both the Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges covering the 2006–2019 fiscal periods, reveals that board independence, a larger board size, and a board sustainability committee promote CSR in the three CSR pillars. However, the study shows that CEO duality is more likely to impede CSR. While the current study seems to provide some understanding regarding the relationship between board characteristics and corporate sustainability reporting to corporate boards, regulators, and practitioners interested in advancing the course of CSR, some significant knowledge gaps still need to be explored in future studies. Future research may consider other board characteristics as well as explore other CSR indices like integrated reporting and triple-bottom-line approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the role of board characteristics in the relationship between tax avoidance behavior and corporate risk tolerance to elucidate the importance of corporate governance mechanisms. The applied methodology is System-GMM for 334 listed corporations in Vietnam from 2008 to 2020 to avoid endogenous problems in our models. The main findings are that higher (lower) corporate risk-taking is related to higher (lower) corporate tax avoidance if the size of the board of directors and the supervisory board are larger (lower) than six and three members, respectively. Furthermore, if the board independence ratio is lower than 48.63%, an increase in corporate risk-taking leads to increased tax avoidance. Our results support the argument that the influence of corporate risk-taking on tax avoidance behavior is governed by governance structure. Therefore, the practical implications will be towards building the optimal governance mechanism for enterprises in Vietnam. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research investigates the moderating roles of various board characteristics (independence, gender diversity, tenure, duality, and size) on the curvilinear relationship between board directorships and carbon emissions using a two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) system approach. We use a total of 1582 observations from 391 firms listed in the US Standard and Poor 500 (S&P 500) index collected from 2015 to 2021. Our findings provide empirical evidence in four aspects: (1) there is a U-shaped curvilinear relationship between board directorships and carbon emissions; (2) board directors should not go over two directorships because carbon emissions are likely to increase; (3) board independence, duality, and size positively moderate curvilinear relationships between board directorships and carbon emissions; and (4) board tenure and gender diversity negatively moderate curvilinear relationships. Our study contributes to expanding the existing literature related to sustainable corporate governance in the US market, and also has implications for regulatory issues, business practice, and further research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current study investigates the association of board characteristics with firms' environmental performance to provide further research and policy implications by carrying out systematic bibliometric analysis. The most potent contribution of the current study was to evaluate the performance of authors, geographical regions, journals and academic institutions to document their impact on the development of current literature. Moreover, the current study has used analytical statistics to examine how current research themes have evolved, and how impediments in existing literature can be overcome. Our analysis allows us to conclude that there is a lack of research collaboration between researchers and institutions in developing and developed countries. Finally, we summarize that the economic literature focuses more on BOD diversity, and there is less focus on theoretical development; non-listed firms, geographical proximity and mediating variables are research areas that need further academic attention. We conclude the current research investigation by identifying new research avenues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A general consensus has been reached among many countries that low-carbon development is important for the protection of the environment and the mitigation of climate change. In line with the attitude of a responsible country, China urges enterprises to participate in energy conservation and emission reduction through various policies. Based on the faultline theory, this paper considers the data of 124 listed companies in China's manufacturing industry from 2015 to 2019 as a research sample. From the perspective of corporate governance, this analysis discusses the influence of the aggregation effect of the multiple characteristics of board members on the environmental protection benefits of enterprises, and empirically studies the board group. The relationship between the faultline and the carbon performance of the enterprise is further investigated, and the internal slack resources of the enterprise are further investigated in relation to the board members and the moderating effect. The study found that the existence of the board's bio-demographic-related faultline has a positive effect on the carbon performance level of enterprises, but it is not statistically significant. The existence of the board's task-related faultline has a positive effect on the carbon performance level of the enterprise. Further research found that precipitated slack resources have a significant negative moderating effect on the relationship between the existence of boardroom faultlines and corporate carbon performance, and that the relationship had a positive moderating effect, but was not statistically significant. The preceding conclusions not only enrich the research on corporate internal governance in theory, but also provide useful guidance for how to improve corporate environmental protection behavior on a microlevel in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper empirically evidences the role played by board characteristics (skills, diversity, structure, independence) in supporting risk management disclosure and shaping the financial performance of European companies operating in the financial services sector. We exploit data selected from Thomson Reuters Eikon database in 2020 for the last fiscal year 2019 (FY0) on a longitudinal sample of 144 companies with the head offices in Europe (25 countries). Following an original empirical approach based on two modern financial econometric techniques, namely structural equation modelling (SEM) and network analysis through Gaussian graphical models (GGMs), the research endeavor outlines the decisive importance of an optimal board size, enhanced management skills, upward gender diversity (encompassed by women participation on board management), and structure (mainly a two-tier type, one management board, and a distinctive supervisory board) as fundamentals of risk management strategies, leading to improved financial achievements and a higher profitability for the analyzed companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the impact of corporate governance, reflecting a wide spectrum of board characteristics and ownership structure on agency costs in 281 listed companies on Ho Chi Minh Stock Exchange (HOSE) in Vietnam in the period 2013--2018. For this purpose, three board characteristics were chosen: (1) the size of board of directors, (2) equilibrium between non-executive and executive members of the board of directors, (3) theCEOchair duality and three types of ownership structures were chosen: (1) management ownership, (2) government ownership, (3) foreign ownership. An inverse proxy of agency costs is used: asset utilization ratio (asset turnover), which reflects the managerial efficiency. The research methodology includes three statistical approaches: Ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effects model (FEM) and random effects model (REM) are considered to employ to address econometric issues and to improve the accuracy of the regression coefficients. The results can create effective corporate governance mechanisms in controlling the managerial opportunistic behavior to lower agency conflicts, and hence lower agency costs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earnings management is a means by which managers manipulate earnings to conceal the true performance of a company. The characteristics of the board of directors can also influence firm performance. This study applies data envelopment analysis (DEA) and the Tobin regression model to investigate the influence of earnings management and board characteristics on company efficiency. The data sample includes 396 Taiwanese electronics and biotechnology companies from 2009 to 2017. The results indicate that earnings management has an insignificant influence on company efficiency with mixed results on the interactions between earnings management and board characteristics. When companies practiced earnings management, director experiences, a higher proportion of female directors, and a higher number of board meetings increased company efficiency. In contrast, a higher number of independent directors and a higher attendance rate of the directors at the board meeting decreased company efficiency. The results of this study suggest that board diversity, more female directors, and meetings could still improve firm performance despite companies' engagement in earnings management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examine various effects of carbon emission regulation enacted in South Korea. We provide empirical evidence of regulated firms strategically hedging against potential risks by increasing the number of directors with environment-related backgrounds. We also find that this relationship is clearly evidenced when the firm is owned by a lower proportion of foreign investors. Further analysis shows that these directors successfully change their firms to become environmentally friendly. Overall, we conclude that the role of governments in promoting green finance is crucial. The findings of this study may be used as a guideline for decision makers and environmental policymakers to create systems and policies to increase the firm's awareness about the environment in relation to corporate environmental responsibility (CER) ratings of firms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyses whether the board characteristics (diversity attributes, competitive capital, time commitment) of companies listed on the Financial Times Stock Exchange FTSE100 exhibit a different performance compared to those associated with conventional benchmark indices (FTSE250, FTSE SMALLCAP (small capitalisation), FTSE Fledgling, and FTSE All-Shar). Using multivariate analysis and unbalanced panel data over the period 2000−2014, we provide novel evidence on how the UK stock market indices react to diversity in board characteristics. Our findings reveal that different aspects of board characteristics are significantly correlated with the performance of FTSE indices. This study further confirms that boards with high levels of diversity maintain better and more effective levels of governance, in particular for companies listed on FTSE100 and FTSE250. Interestingly, we report that the competitive capital and busyness associated with boards of companies listed on FTSE100 have professional, well-educated, and socially connected boards, and show a clear pattern whereby boards become significantly less competitive as firm size decreases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study mainly explores the relationship between company governance, company operation characteristics, management connection and corporate environmental investment. Based on the theory of stakeholders and principal-agent, it expounds the factors affecting the environmental behavior of companies, and empirically tests the relationship of the involved variables. This study takes the non-financial listed companies of Shanghai Stock Exchange from 2009 to 2011 as a sample, and conducts empirical research on corporate governance, business operation characteristics, management connection and corporate environmental protection investment. The results show that under the same circumstances, if the CEO is also the chairman of the board of directors, it will lead to opportunistic situation of the controlling shareholder, and the degree of willingness to invest in environmental preservation is low, which is negatively related to environmental protection investment. The more redundant resources or the higher the production efficiency exist, the higher the willingness of enterprises to invest in environmental protection will be stimulated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]