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In the aftermath of banking failures in Africa, the survival of firms has thus been placed with the application of good corporate governance practice and the oversight role of internal and external auditors. This study examines whether audit quality is related to corporate board of directors and financial reporting timeliness in the context of developing countries. Using sample data from 21 universal banks in Ghana and 31 commercial banks in Kenya for the periods 2010 to 2019. The study employs the Generalized Least Square(GLS), using fixed effect to estimate the relationships. The empirical results document that board size, average 9, and board independence, 59% on average, increase audit quality in Africa. However, the relationship between board gender and audit quality is not significant. Financial report lag is not significant to audit quality in Africa. However, financial report lag in Kenya is negative and significant to quality audit. Our findings recommend that commercial banks in Africa should implement policies that would increase the size of their boards and the number of independent directors to enhance maximum benefits from good corporate governance practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explored the relationship between board characteristics and sustainability of higher education institutions in the United Kingdom (UK). We analysed 153 UK universities using data for the year 2019. Our analysis revealed that board size, the number of students on the board, and the number of academic members on the board were found to have significant and positive relationships with sustainability. Also, the composition of the sustainability committee was shown to have a significant and positive impact on sustainability score. However, the relationships between board gender diversity, the number of external members on the board, and the number of board meetings held during the year with sustainability score were not significant. The results provide guidance to universities for developing their sustainability practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to examine the relationship between firm ownership, board characteristics and the extent of corporate social responsibility disclosures (CSRD) in the annual reportsin a developing country like Vietnam.The data is based on a content analysis of the annual reports oftop 100 (VN100) companies listed on the Ho Chi Minh stock exchange for the year 2021.Hierarchical regression analysis was used to examine the relationship between the corporate social responsibility disclosures index and the independent variables, namely the board independence, board size, managerial ownership, foreign ownership and the presence ofa sustainability committee (or CSR committee) after statistically controlling the effects of company size and the profitability of the companies.Results indicated that board independence, foreign ownership and the presence ofa sustainability committee are positively and significantly correlated with the level of CSRD. Conversely, it is found that managerial ownership has negative significant impacts on the CSRD. The results also displayed no significant relationship between the board size and CSRD.Our study provides several suggestions to promote the CSR information disclosure of listed companiesin countries which share similar corporate ownership and board characteristics. The regulators and policy makers should increase the number of independent board members, maintain the existence of the CSR committee, increase the foreign ownership ratio for transparency of information provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate the moderating effect of sustainability reporting on the relationship between the independent variables of board diversity, and earnings management and the dependent variable of readability of financial statements. Design/methodology/approach: The study panel data regression analysis involved 36 Kenyan-listed companies from 2016 to 2020. Findings: Key findings were that increased board diversity was found to significantly improve the readability of financial statements. Discretionary earnings management was found to significantly reduce the readability of financial statements. Sustainability reporting was found to significantly increase the readability of financial statements, and it moderated the relationship between board diversity, earnings management and financial statements readability in Kenya. Research limitations/implications: The study sample of 36 non-financial listed in the Nairobi Securities Exchange was very small and was affected by the problem of thin trading; hence, caution should be adopted when interpreting the findings. Practical implications: The Capital Markets Authorities (CMA) as a policymaker should enforce sustainability reporting by Kenyan listed firms as there is evidence that the reporting enhances the readability of financial statements. The Institute of Certified Public Accountants as a policymaker should closely monitor the published financial statements of firms for earnings management and punish the perpetrators, as there is empirical evidence that the practice reduces the readability of financial statements. Social implications: Sustainability reporting is successful as a moderating variable between readability of financial statements and determinants of readability of financial statements. Originality/value: This study contributes to knowledge by studying sustainability reporting as a moderating variable between the independent variables of board diversity and earnings management and the dependent variable of readability of financial statements and measured sustainability reporting using a dummy variable for the period before and after the enactment and release of CMA code of 2016 on corporate governance that required sustainability reporting by Kenyan listed companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of country-level governance on sustainability performance, taking into account the effect of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and board characteristics. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses panel data analysis using fixed effect models to investigate the influence of country-level governance on sustainability performance while considering the effect of SDGs and board characteristics. The sample comprises 8,273 firms across 41 countries during the period spanning from 2016 to 2021. The sample is divided into two categories based on the score of SDGs. Findings: The findings of this study show that countries with high SDGs score have better overall country-level governance and board attributes which have a statistically significant positive impact on sustainability performance. However, for those countries with low SDGs, political stability shows a statistically insignificant and negative impact on sustainability performance, while government effectiveness indicates a statistically insignificant positive impact on sustainability performance. Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidence on the relationship between country-level governance, SDGs, board characteristics and sustainability performance. The study also highlights the importance of considering the effect of SDGs on the relationship between country-level governance and sustainability performance. The findings of this study could be useful for policymakers and firms in improving their sustainability performance and contributing to sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of carbon performance on carbon disclosure among nonfinancial French-listed firms, while also considering the corporate board's characteristics as a secondary objective. Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a sample of Société des Bourses Françaises 120 Index (SBF-120) French-listed firms to investigate the effect of multiple carbon performance proxies on carbon disclosure based on random effects models for the period 2010–2021. Generalized method of moments regressions are used to encounter endogeneity problems. Findings: Drawing on stakeholder theory, this paper finds that greater carbon performance leads to greater carbon disclosure. Given the growing societal awareness about climate-change issues, carbon-responsible firms are likely to disseminate relevant carbon-related information through disclosures to respond to the information demands of a varied stakeholder group. Coherent with signaling theory, large firms that undertake carbon-reduction initiatives tend to disclose more information about their enhanced carbon performance to equity participants to distinguish themselves and highlight their decarbonization efforts. Originality/value: This study offers significant insights given that SBF-120 firms are involved in climate-change activities as a response to the growing institutional and societal pressure to perform better and disclose reliable environmental information in their sustainability reports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between board characteristics and micro-level organizational factors is an area that has been significantly under-researched, and there is a lack of understanding of how these two elements interact with each other. Hence, we aim to explore how board characteristics could potentially have an impact on individual-level job satisfaction. The dataset used for this study encompasses a total of 4020 observations gathered from 804 companies listed in the FTSE 350 and S&P 500 indices, and it covers the period spanning from 2016 to 2021. The results of the adopted multiple regression analysis showed significant positive relationships between board gender diversity, diversity of specific skills, board independence, board meeting attendance, board size, and average board tenure and employees' job satisfaction of the companies under analysis. However, cultural diversity was not found to have a significant impact on employees' satisfaction. We draw out the theoretical implications of these findings and provide practical recommendations regarding companies' boards composition and structure that help them to enhance the level of their employees' job satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study develops a recent database of corporate inversions, and we descriptively explore three different corporate inversion timeframes from 1982 to 2022. We examine how the external governance mechanism of the legal environment has impacted the structure, destination countries, industry preference, and firm-level effects of inverting firms over these timeframes. In addition, we highlight the various internal corporate governance mechanisms (board characteristics) and common accounting variables and ratios during these same periods. We find that inverting firms' boards during our later inversion period of 2018–2022 are smaller and less experienced and accounting ratios exhibit riskier profiles than the earlier inversion time periods. Besides building on the inversion literature, our findings should be of interest to practitioners and regulators who are interested in the current trends of inversions and we highlight new industry clustering in the manufacturing and service sectors and new inversions comprise mostly cannabis companies in the wake of conflicting federal, state and securities laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to analyze the influence of board characteristics, ownership structure, and public attention on the disclosure of information related to climate change in the banking industry. This study uses panel data from financial reports and corporate sustainability in the banking sector. The data is processed using the Eviews application, using a sample of 348 companies from 2018 to 2021. The results show that the presence of women on the board, foreign board members, foreign ownership, and public attention all have a positive and significant effect influence. In contrast, board size and institutional ownership have a negative influence on the disclosure of climate change information by banking companies in different countries. Statistical tests also show that although the level of climate change information disclosure by banking companies is relatively good, there is still room for improvement to be in line with evolving standards. The study also looks at public attention through media coverage, as measured through Google Trends, which has the potential to impact climate change information disclosure, especially in sectors that are sensitive to the issue. Furthermore, the study conducted additional tests by categorizing the sample based on companies located in countries with high and medium rankings in the climate change performance index, as well as grouping them by region (Asia, Americas, and Europe). This research has important practical and theoretical contributions, advancing the understanding of the application of legitimacy and stakeholder theories to climate change and the factors that influence climate change disclosure strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Green banking is an environmentally responsible practice within the banking business, despite its classification as a non-environmentally sensitive sector. Commercial banks can actively promote green banking initiatives by investing in emission-reducing technologies and providing loans to sectors with minimal greenhouse gas emissions. This article seeks to examine the impact of bank financial performance, board size, board independence, and board diversity on green banking disclosure. This study applied panel data regression to a sample of fortythree banks listed between 2019 and 2022, demonstrating that these banks' financial performance influences the level of transparency in green banking. The capital adequacy ratio (CAR) has a positive impact on green banking disclosure, whereas non-performing loans (NPL) and the loan-to-deposit ratio (LDR) have a negative impact. The size of board commissioners, board independence, and gender diversity do not correlate with green banking disclosure. The results suggest that banks with strong financial performance, i.e., higher capital and lower nonperforming loans, have more resources to participate in the green banking activities disclosed in the sustainability report. The negative relationship between LDR and green banking disclosure indicates that the careful selection of loan distribution to businesses that care about the environment will increase green banking disclosure but decrease LDR. This study informs the Financial Service Authority (OJK) that, in order to promote sustainable finance in the banking industry, the OJK should oversee banks' financial health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates how financial inclusion affects credit risk in the MENA region. It also checks whether board characteristics can moderate this relationship. We use a sample of MENA banks from 2004 to 2017 and perform the system generalized method of moment approach. Through the usage and access dimensions, we find that financial inclusion reduces the level of non-performing loans. These results are robust using an index of financial inclusion. For board characteristics, findings indicate that only board size, duality, and independent directors significantly affect the level of NPLs. Our findings prove that MENA banks benefit from an interaction between greater financial inclusion and board characteristics. These insights are consistent with theorists and scholars who are working on each dimension separately. As an extension of their work, we find that the interaction significantly affects the NPLs ratio. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigates the impact of corporate governance practices (namely board characteristics, ownership structure, and audit committee characteristics) on corporate tax avoidance. For this purpose, this study uses generalised least squares regression on a sample of 138 companies listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange. Ten-year data from 2009 to 2018 are collected from published annual reports, comprising 1380 firm-year observations. The findings highlight that board independence, concentrated ownership, and audit committee gender diversity are negatively associated with tax avoidance. Conversely, managerial ownership and audit committee independence positively influence aggressive tax behaviour. Additional analysis reveals that these impacts are nonlinear and change with the different levels of tax avoidance. Enhanced governance stifles tax avoidance at lower levels; however, it encourages tax avoidance when firms are already aggressively avoiding taxes. This scenario represents a 'double down' behaviour depicted by the Pakistani corporate sector. This is one of the foremost studies to explore the impact of corporate governance on tax avoidance in Pakistan. It contributes to the literature by examining the impact of under-researched factors such as board meetings and audit committee characteristics and provides insights into the conflicting findings on board characteristics and ownership structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Digital transformation (DT), board characteristics, and green technology innovation (GI) have a substantial impact on corporate sustainability. However, there are seemingly conflicting conclusions about how DT affects an enterprise's GI performance, and few studies have considered the moderating effect of board characteristics. We aim to explore the impact of board characteristics on the correlation between DT and GI, using a sample of 1470 listed companies in China and employing a fixed‐effects model. Our results suggest that DT significantly enhances enterprises' GI performance; DT indirectly promotes the GI performance of enterprises by increasing their R&D investments, optimizing human capital structure, and enhancing management efficiency. Additionally, board gender diversity, board size, and board educational level positively moderate the relationship between DT on GI, whereas the impact will be blunted by board age diversity. Our conclusions are of great value to promote enterprises' GI performance and realize enterprises' sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the relationship between perk consumption and forced CEO turnover. The results based on Chinese firms indicate that the likelihood of forced CEO turnover increases with excess perk consumption by executives. The positive effect of excess perk consumption on CEO dismissal declines when the firms are momentum winners in market returns and profitability while it rises when firms are momentum losers. Non-co-opted independent directors amplify the positive effect of excess perks on forced CEO turnover whereas board gender diversity reduces such likelihood. Better educated CEOs appear to consume fewer excess perks, reducing the likelihood of forced turnover. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The study examines board characteristics, corporate social responsibility (CSR) assurance and social performance disclosure of listed firms before and after mandatory CSR reporting in India. We used the Indian stock market as the testing grounds and applied panel regression and difference‐in‐differences to analyse 960 firm‐year observations between 2010 and 2021. The first findings show that independent board directors and total board size are insignificant in CSR assurance engagement in a mandatory CSR policy period. However, CEO duality is less than likely causing CSR assurance engagement. The second findings show that CSR assurance engagement more than likely causes an increase in social performance disclosure before mandatory CSR policy implementation and increases social performance after policy implementation. The third findings show that the interactive effect of board characteristics (independent directors, total board size and CEO duality) and CSR assurance engagement causes an increase in social performance disclosure. The study sought clarity on the impact of CSR assurance and mandatory CSR reporting on information asymmetry problems to stakeholders. The study also contributes new knowledge on the influence of the interactive effect of board characteristics and CSR assurance on the social performance disclosure of listed firms in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research investigated the influence of board characteristics on corporate social responsibility of listed oil and gas companies in Nigerian Exchange. Variables examined are bord size, independence, gender diversity, activity, professionalism and equity ownership of board members. While corporate social responsibility was proxy by CSR expenditure. The population consists of twelve (12) listed oil and gas firms from which five (5) firms have consistently published their annual reports within the period covered and extracted data from their respective annual reports. Panel corrected standard error was used for analysis. Findings revealed both board size and board activity have no significant impacts on CSR while in contrast, board independence, female gender, board professionalism and board equity ownership have a significant effect on CSR. It was recommended that the management of listed oil and gas companies need to have more independent outside directors on the board to enhance monitoring and CSR performance. Also, higher participation of female on the board will improve CSR performance because of their concern for environmental issues. In addition, having more members with professional expertise will improve the decision making of the board and equally shape CSR performance. Board members with equity stake will align the interest of the managers with those of shareholders and likewise, focus more on long-term goals of the firm. Listed oil and gas firm should maintain appropriate board size and required number of board meetings as stipulated by code of corporate governance.

Innovation, which is a pivotal force behind the sustained growth of enterprises, has garnered significant attention across various industries. As the epicenter of corporate decision-making, the board of directors plays a pivotal role in allocating resources and overseeing the execution of strategy. Consequently, it inevitably impacts the innovation capabilities of a business. Previous research has focused primarily on single board member characteristics, such as age, gender, tenure, and educational qualifications, overlooking the cumulative influence of multiple attributes. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of faultlines arising from the intersection of these characteristics within a board on innovation performance. Using panel data from China’s A-share listed companies from 2010 to 2021, this research constructs a framework to analyze board faultlines based on gender, age, education, director tenure, independence status, and occupational background. A comprehensive examination reveals a positive association between board faultlines and innovation performance, indicating that diversity within a board can foster enhanced innovative outputs. These findings persist even after rigorous robustness tests, including two-stage instrumental variable regression using lagged innovation performance as well as when substituting explanatory variables and sample intervals. Further analysis reveals that the influence of board faultlines on innovation performance is significant only under certain contextual conditions: when equity concentration is low, industry competition is intense, and risk aversion is greater. This study offers valuable insights for optimizing board membership configurations and thus, ultimately, enhancing the innovation capabilities of enterprises.

Purpose – This paper aims to examine the influence of board characteristics on the integrated reporting quality (IRQ) of Indian-listed companies. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a sample of 197 firms from the BSE 500 for the years 2017–2018 to 2019–2020. The proposed hypotheses are tested using two-stage least squares regression. Findings – The study documents a positive influence of board size, board independence and gender diversity on IRQ. The study also finds that board activity and role duality are insignificant with IRQ. Among the firm-specific characteristics, variables such as firm size, profitability and capital intensity positively influence IRQ. Originality/value – The current study presents the first investigation in the context of India on the various board characteristics influencing IRQ. The study reiterates the role that gender-diverse boards have in improving information transparency. Policymakers can therefore drive adoption by recommending changes in board characteristics and increasing the quota for women on boards.

This study investigates the impact of board characteristics on the financial performance of 14 listed banks in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda. We use 84 firm-year observations of 14 listed banks from three stock markets in East Africa, namely Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), Nairobi Security Exchange (NSE), and Uganda Security Exchange (USE) for a six-year period that is 2017–2022. The accounting measure of financial performance was the net interest margin (NIM). This study used a fixed-effects panel analysis model to test the hypotheses. The empirical results reveal that board financial expertise positively and significantly influences financial performance. This implies that an increase in the proportion of board members with financial and accounting backgrounds increases bank performance. On the other hand, the proportion of foreign directors decreased bank performance as the variable exerted a negative and significant effect on bank performance. The results suggest that board structure has an important role to play in the governance of listed banks in East African frontier stock markets.

This study investigates the relationship between board characteristics and firm efficiency in emerging Asian economies, using stochastic frontier analysis and a panel dataset of 5829 firm-year observations. The results suggest that companies with strong monitoring boards concerning diversity, size, and independence achieve higher efficiency. This study provides more specific results on the importance of board characteristics for firm-level governance and highlights the Asian emerging markets’ focus on good governance practices. The study’s use of firm efficiency as a proxy for performance is a unique framework that mitigates endogeneity issues common in corporate governance variables. This approach is an improvement over previous research that has relied on financial ratios, which need to consider the value of management’s actions and investment decisions affecting future performance. The results contribute to the literature on corporate governance and provide valuable insights for investors in emerging markets.

This study examines the influence of board characteristics on company’s sustainability reporting in the GCC region. In contrast to prior research, we investigate the relationship between variables across a span of eleven years, encompassing all nonfinancial firms listed on the GCC stock exchanges. Our study addresses the scarcity of research undertaken in the GCC region on this particular topic. This study empirically investigates the relationship between board characteristics (specifically, board size, board gender diversity, board meetings, and board independence) on the adoption of sustainable reporting while taking into account firm characteristics (including leverage, profitability, liquidity, and firm size) and controlling for macroeconomic variables (such as GDP and inflation). This research utilized Probit regression to examine the influence of the likelihood of various variables on the adoption of sustainable reporting. The findings indicated that larger board sizes, a higher proportion of female board members, the inclusion of more independent directors, and more frequent board meetings all contribute to the improvement of sustainable reporting. Furthermore, the greater the size, the greater is the impact of profitability and liquidity on the sustainability of reporting. The current research offers some insights into the connection between board characteristics and corporate sustainability reporting for corporate boards, regulators, and practitioners who are interested in promoting sustainable reporting. Further investigation should examine the comparison of sustainability reporting methodologies across different regions, as well as between privately held and publicly listed corporations. Finally, as evident by the results reported in the Maximum Likelihood Estimator our results are robust.

AbstractThis study investigates the relationship between board characteristics (Sharia boards and boards of directors) and capital structure decisions of Islamic commercial banks (ICBs). The sample consisted of 14 ICBs in Indonesia operated during 2007–2021. The data were analyzed using the random effect model and the feasible generalized least square model. The results reveal that the size and independence of the board of directors and Sharia board expertise have a positive impact on the Indonesian ICBs’ debt-to-total asset ratio decision. Furthermore, board gender diversity encourages ICBs in Indonesia to adopt a lower debt-to-total equity ratio (DTER) while the size and expertise of Sharia boards encourage ICBs to pursue higher DTER. This study reinforces the agency theory’s view regarding the relationship between board characteristics and corporate capital structure decisions.

The purpose of research is to study how the board characteristics conditionally impact the firm performance with primary moderator ownership concentration and secondary moderator shariah compliance in the Pakistani equity market from 2010 to 2021. The study entails board characteristics, including the size of the board, women's directorship, independent audit committees, and independent non-executive directors. It employs Tobin's Q (TQ) as a measure for firm value and the moderated moderation model 3 of Hayes (2017) to determine the conditional effect. The results show significant negative conditional effect of board size and positive significant conditional effect of female representation on TQ, and insignificant conditional effects of independent audit committees and independent directors on TQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study analyzes how corporate governance affects financial performance and explores the role of corporate social responsibility as a mediator for 495 firms located in emerging economies in BRICS countries, including Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa from 2011 to 2021. This study evaluates the impact of various board characteristics such as board size, board independence, and gender diversity, as well as ownership structure elements such as family, foreign, and institutional shareholding, on firm performance in BRICS countries. This study uses a generalized method of moments (GMM) methodology to examine the relationship between corporate governance, corporate social responsibility (CSR), and firm performance. The results reveal that board attributes including size, independence, and gender diversity positively influence firm performance. All three components of ownership structure, family, foreign, and institutional shareholdings, positively affect firm performance. CSR partially mediates the positive relationship between corporate governance and firm performance. This study contributes to the literature by adding CSR as a mediating variable in the relationship between corporate governance and firm performance in BRICS countries. These findings suggest that managers must understand that effective corporate governance mechanisms are essential for better performance and should align their interests with firms' objectives. The mediation effect of CSR implies that policymakers should consider CSR as an additive tool to enhance firm performance rather than as an additional expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between specific board attributes and the financial performance of publicly listed deposit banks in Nigeria, focusing on board size and composition, which are examined in relation to the measure of financial performance proxied by the return on assets (ROA). Drawing from agency theories, a panel data approach spanning 2011 to 2020 examines ten deposit banks listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), resulting in 60 firm-year observations. The study obtained data from the annual reports of selected banks and the official websites of the NSE. The model's validity is assessed through a multiple regression analysis. The findings of this study reveal a positive and significant association between board size and financial performance, highlighting the pivotal role of larger boards in enhancing deposit banks' financial outcomes on the NSE. In contrast, the study finds a negative and significant relationship between board composition and financial performance, suggesting that an increased board composition leads to decreased financial performance. Overall, this study underscores the significant impact of board characteristics on the financial performance of listed deposit banks in Nigeria. The implications of these findings are pertinent for policymakers and market regulators, as they offer valuable insights into the role of board characteristics in bolstering the financial performance of banks.