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In recent time, stakeholders have called on corporate organizations to develop risk governance (RG) model that could strengthen effective risk disclosure quality (RDQ). Based on this premise, the purpose of this study is to examine the influence of RG on RD quality of 120 corporate organizations.

RG was measured by board risk committee size, board risk committee independence, board risk committee gender diversity, board risk committee expertise, board risk committee effectiveness, chief risk officer (CRO) presence and enterprise risk management (ERM) framework. This study has used both ordered logistic regression and probit regression to analyze the data set.

The number of members on the board risk committee, the proportion of women on that committee, the board expertise, the committee’s effectiveness, the presence of a CRO and the existence of an ERM framework were all found to have an impact on the quality of the risk information disclosed.

The study emphasizes the need for strong collaboration between the corporate board and external assurance in enhancing the quality of RD.

The findings contribute to growing literature in the area of RG and RD in Nigeria and by extension other sub-Saharan African countries.

This integrative review was conducted to provide an overview of existing research on digital (in)equity and the digital divide in developed countries.

We searched academic and grey literature to identify relevant papers. From 8464 academic articles and 183 grey literature, after two levels of screening, 31 articles and 54 documents were selected, respectively. A thematic analysis was conducted following the steps suggested by Braun and Clarke and results were reported following the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines.

The results showed that most articles and papers were either from Europe or North America. Studies used a range of research methods, including quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods. The results demonstrated four major dimensions of the digital divide among various vulnerable groups, including digital literacy, affordability, equity-deserving group-sensitive content and availability or access to infrastructure. Among vulnerable groups, low-income people were reported in the majority of the studies followed by older adults, racial and ethnic minorities, newcomers/new immigrants and refugees, Indigenous groups, people with disabilities and women. Most reported barriers included lack of access to the internet, digital skills, language barriers and internet costs.

To the best of our knowledge, there have been limited attempts to thoroughly review the literature to better understand the emerging dimensions of digital equity and the digital divide, identifying major vulnerable populations and their unique barriers and challenges. This review demonstrated that understanding intersectional characteristics (age, gender, disability, race, ethnicity, Indigenous identity and immigration status) and their interconnections is crucial for analyzing the dynamics of digital (in)equity and divide.

This review aims to summarize the extent to which sustainability dimensions are covered in the selected qualitative literature, the theoretical and ontological underpinnings that have informed sustainability research and the qualitative methodologies used in that literature.

This study uses a systematic review to examine prior empirical studies in sustainability reporting between 2000 and 2021.

This review contributes to sustainability research by identifying unexplored and underexplored areas for future studies, such as Indigenous people’s rights, employee health and safety practice, product responsibility, gender and leadership diversity. Institutional and stakeholder theories are widely used in the selected literature, whereas moral legitimacy remains underexplored. The authors suggest that ethnographic and historical research will increase the richness of academic research findings on sustainability reporting.

This review is limited to qualitative studies only because its richness allows researchers to apply various methodological and theoretical approaches to understand engagement in sustainability reporting practice.

This review follows a novel approach of bringing the selected studies’ scopes, theories and methodologies together. This approach permits researchers to formulate a research question coherently using a logical framework for a research problem.

This study aims to investigate the relationship between sustainability reporting and the cost of capital among Vietnamese firms using the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) standards.

Using a sample of the 100 largest firms by market capitalisation listed on the Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh stock exchanges as of 31 December 2023, this study applies regression models to examine how sustainability disclosure influences the cost of debt (COD), cost of equity (COE) and the weighted average cost of capital (WACC) over the period from 2021 to 2023.

The findings indicate a significant negative relationship between sustainability disclosure and the COD, COE and WACC, with environmental-related sustainability development goals (SDGs) disclosures having the most substantial impact. These results highlight the critical role of transparency in reducing information asymmetry and agency costs, ultimately lowering the cost of capital.

This study extends stakeholder and signalling theories by demonstrating how sustainability disclosure affects both shareholders and creditors in a developing economy.

This study provides actionable insights for corporate managers and financial institutions on how sustainable development practices can enhance access to capital at more favourable rates. Policymakers and banks are encouraged to implement green finance initiatives to promote sustainability further.

As Vietnam strives to combat climate change, this research underscores the importance of sustainable practices in building trust with investors and lenders.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study offers one of the first comprehensive examinations of the link between sustainability reporting and capital costs in Vietnam, offering important empirical evidence for academics and practitioners.

The purpose of this paper is to systematically review how agency and stakeholder theories are integrated within corporate governance and environmental disclosure practices in the UAE, highlighting their relevance and adaptation to a distinct economic and regulatory environment.

Using a comprehensive qualitative methodology, this study synthesises a broad spectrum of existing theoretical and empirical research to explore the dynamics of corporate governance mechanisms regarding environmental sustainability. This approach enables a detailed examination of how agency theory’s focus on principal–agent relationships complements stakeholder theory’s broader view of corporate responsibilities.

This research uncovers significant insights into corporate conduct and responsibility, emphasising the need to balance shareholder objectives with broader stakeholder interests. It identifies key challenges in this integration, such as managing the complexities and potential conflicts between different stakeholder demands. The findings underscore the crucial role of specialised governance mechanisms, like board characteristics and committees, in enhancing environmental transparency and accountability.

This study contributes to the academic discourse by shedding light on the interplay between corporate governance frameworks and environmental disclosure practices within the UAE. It offers fresh insights into applying established theories in a non-Western context. These insights are precious for academics, practitioners and policymakers interested in refining corporate governance and promoting environmental responsibility. The practical implications drawn from the findings empower stakeholders to implement effective strategies that can enhance a firm’s reputation, legitimacy and long-term viability.

 Social assistance programs have been implemented in Madagascar to assist the most vulnerable and neediest poor in achieving a minimum standard of living during critical times. In the Grand South and Southeast Madagascar, where climate change, price fluctuations and sociopolitical instability threaten the population’s livelihood, the effectiveness of such aid-based programs is uncertain because of possible mistargeting. This study aims to assess the accuracy of the targeting methodology of four different types of social protection programs in Southern Madagascar.

The authors draw evidence from a national representative data set and use multiple techniques that integrate targeting performance and regression-based analyses.

Results show that cash transfers constitute the only program that effectively reaches the poorest 20% living in drought- and cyclone-affected regions. However, mistargeting is likely to occur in food, seed transfers, and the HIMO public works programs. Social inclusion information related to proximity to urban zones, religious affiliation, and number of long-lasting insecticide-treated nets are significantly associated to all program participation. Nevertheless, a serious under-coverage of the eligible poor is noted for Southern Madagascar.

This study is among the first to evaluate the targeting effectiveness of social programs in Madagascar. It introduces a novel approach to evaluating the poverty rate by utilizing a composite-based wealth score. The authors enhance the classic targeting assessment methodology by incorporating geospatial covariates, categorical, geographical and social network information into an econometric model. The study provides a comprehensive view of the main profile of beneficiaries reached by four social assistance programs in Southern Madagascar.