The influence of board characteristics on sustainability reporting : Empirical evidence from Sri Lankan firms
Abstract
Purpose
Drawing on agency theory and legitimacy theory perspectives, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of board characteristics on sustainability reporting of listed companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), Sri Lanka.
Design/methodology/approach
A sample of 148 listed companies was drawn from the CSE using stratified random sampling method and data were collected from the 2012 annual reports. The proposed hypotheses were tested using a hierarchical binary logistic regression.
Findings
This study documents that board size and dual leadership are positively associated with sustainability reporting and boards with female directors are negatively associated with sustainability reporting. This study also found that sustainability reporting is likely to be influenced by firm size and firm growth. Additionally, the study also reveals that younger firms are likely to adopt sustainability reporting.
Originality/value
This is the first study to examine the influence of board characteristics on sustainability reporting in Sri Lanka, considered as a developing economy with an emerging equity market.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
JEL Classifications — M41, M14
Higher Education for Twentieth Century (HETC) Project, Ministry of Higher Education, Sri Lanka.
Citation
M. Shamil, M., M. Shaikh, J., Ho, P.-L. and Krishnan, A. (2014), "The influence of board characteristics on sustainability reporting : Empirical evidence from Sri Lankan firms", Asian Review of Accounting, Vol. 22 No. 2, pp. 78-97. https://doi.org/10.1108/ARA-09-2013-0060
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2014, Emerald Group Publishing Limited