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This study aims to explore whether corporate governance mechanisms affect environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure by firms across countries. It investigates whether board cultural diversity affects ESG disclosure.

The proposed methodology draws on multidimensional scaling as a multivariate assessment tool to evaluate and prioritize the effect of corporate governance on environmental, social and governance disclosure. This study uses a cross-country sample of 672 listed firms located in 40 countries for the period between 2014 and 2022. We used a panel regression to test the hypotheses. Moreover, we conducted a two-stage least squares regression analysis as an additional robustness check.

The results show that companies can have high-quality ESG disclosure when they have good corporate governance. Interestingly, this study found that board composition and some criteria of corporate social responsibility (CSR) positively affect ESG disclosure for firms.

This study adds to the existing body of accounting knowledge in several dimensions. Indeed, to the best of our knowledge, this is one of the few studies that investigate the effect of corporate governance on the environmental, social and governance disclosure of firms across 40 countries. This study also has important implications for the board of directors’ characteristics and CSR, which strive to improve the index of ESG disclosure.

This study aims to systematically consolidate and quantitatively integrate the mixed empirical results on the association between ownership mechanisms and voluntary carbon disclosure using meta-analysis and further propose potential country-level moderators of this relationship.

The authors apply meta-analytic procedures on 55 empirical studies conducted during 2008–2022, covering 13 countries, 85 effect sizes and 226,473 firm-year observations. To gauge the significance of the estimated mean effect size, a random-effects Hedges and Olkin meta-analysis procedure is adopted, followed by a restricted maximum likelihood based meta-regression, to test the effect of possible moderators.

Aligned with agency and stakeholder theories, the results highlight institutional and state ownership (SO) as having a significant positive impact on voluntary carbon disclosure. On the other hand, ownership concentration, managerial and foreign ownership have an insignificant effect on voluntary carbon disclosure. Based on institutional theory perspectives, the authors confirm the impact of institutional ownership on voluntary carbon disclosure to be more prominent in civil law countries and those countries that have implemented an emission trading scheme (ETS).

The finding that institutional and SO in firms can translate into higher voluntary disclosures deems investors and the government as crucial stakeholders in achieving carbon neutrality. Furthermore, the finding that the effect of institutional investors on carbon disclosure is heightened in ETS-implemented countries provides evidence to the regulatory authorities in favour of this scheme.

The positive impact of institutional and government ownership on voluntary carbon disclosure highlights that these ownership structures not only have the potential to transform corporate decisions but also have implications for the wider society. As firms owned by institutional investors disclose their carbon information, it provides access to critical information about their environmental practices to the public. This fosters an environment of transparency and trust between the firm and its stakeholders (the community), leading to an overall well-informed society.

While prior meta-reviews studied the impact of corporate governance on voluntary disclosures, the meta-literature, as of 2024, has yet to address its influence specifically on carbon disclosures, which are pertinent amidst the ongoing global climate change crisis. The findings inform policymakers about the pivotal institutional factors that can amplify the impact of effective ownership structures on voluntary carbon disclosure. Future scope exists for investigating the effects of ownership mechanisms on firm-level sustainable investments. Furthermore, future empirical analysis could consider the moderating influence of “culture” and “ease of doing business” on the ownership-carbon disclosure relationship.

The study aims to identify, summarize and synthesize the theories used in corporate financial reporting (CFR) and propose a conceptual framework based on those theories.

The study applied the systematic literature review approach to achieve the study objectives. So, the researchers systematically collected the relevant documents from the Scopus database with the help of an advanced search string containing keywords to the CFR theories. Preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses technique was used for the relevant document selection process. Finally, 67 documents were extracted and analyzed spanning from the year of 2017 to 2023.

The major findings of this study indicate a predominance of legitimacy, agency and stakeholder theories in CFR studies. Whereas, this study reveals that neo-institutional, signaling, resource dependency, political economics and impression management theories have been less focused on by scholars in the CFR studies. Those theories need to be reemphasized in this field in future research.

The study’s contributions are significant for academics, policymakers and different parties, as it enhance the understanding of CFR theoretical frameworks and suggest directions for future research to broaden the theoretical landscape. The study maps the motivations of applying a certain theory which will help the researchers to select a specific theory for the underlying context of CFR.

Financial market sustainability is gaining attention as investors and stakeholders become more aware of environmental, social and governance issues, pushing demand for responsible and ethical investment practices. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the impact of carbon (CO2) emissions from three sources, oil, gas and coal, on the stock market sustainability via effective government policies.

The eight countries belong to two different regions of world: Asian economies such as Pakistan, India, Malaysia and China, and OECD economies such as Germany, France, the UK and the USA are selected as a sample of the study. The 22-year data from 2000 to 2022 are collected from the DataStream and the World Bank data portal for the specified countries. The generalized methods of movement (GMM) and wavelet are used as the econometric tool for the analysis.

Our findings show that the CO2 emission from coal and gas significantly negatively impacts stock market sustainability, but CO2 emission from oil positively impacts stock market sustainability. Moreover, all the emerging Asian economies’ CO2 emissions from coal and gas have a much greater significant negative impact on the stock market sustainability than the OECD countries due to the critical situation. However, the government’s effective policies have a positive significant moderating impact between them, reducing the effect of CO2 emission on the stock market.

This study advocated strong implications for policymakers, governments and investors.

Effective government policies can protect the environment and make business operations suitable, leading to market financial stability. This study advocated strong implications for policymakers, governments and investors.

This study provides fresh evidence of the government’s effective role to control the carbon environment that provide the sustainability to the organizations with respect to OECD and emerging economy.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, most higher education institutes shifted to online learning as the sole alternative to continuing education while mitigating the risks imposed by the pandemic. This has raised several concerns regarding students’ learning experience, satisfaction and academic achievement, particularly in countries where students have restrained technological resources (i.e. developing nations). The current research aims to investigate the key factors influencing students’ attitudes, satisfaction and academic achievement among university students in an emerging market context (i.e. Morocco). The moderating effect of students’ motivation to study online was also scrutinized.

The authors propose an integrated conceptual framework that combines the technology acceptance model (TAM) with the outcomes of prior literature related to online learning. Based on data collected from 850 Moroccan university students, the authors empirically tested the conceptual model using a partial least squares (PLS) estimation.

First, attitude toward online learning and satisfaction positively impact university students’ academic achievement; at the same time, attitude positively impacts students’ satisfaction with online learning. Second, students’ satisfaction and attitude toward online learning were found to be mainly influenced by instructor performance, ease of use of the online learning platform, information quality, interactivity and perceived usefulness (PU). Finally, student motivation acts as a moderator, e.g. students with higher motivation to learn online are more likely to develop a favorable attitude toward online learning and can, therefore, accomplish better academic performance.

The current study makes a considerable contribution to the literature by contributing to the on-going debate about the potentials and challenges of online learning, particularly in an emerging country where education remains a considerable challenge. The study findings can help higher education institutes gauge the quality of online education programs and design efficient strategies to develop high-quality online learning for students. Our findings have implications not only for educational institutions and instructors in developing markets but also for the vendors of online course delivery software.

Despite the digitalization reforms attempting to enhance public service quality, paper-based tendering is still widely used in a number of developing countries (i.e. Morocco). This has led to many issues including waste of time, higher costs as well as labor-intensive issues. E-tendering has been widely recommended as a key resolution. Still, both scholars and practitioners raised concerns related the readiness of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to this digitalization process. The current research aims to investigate the key drivers of SMEs intention to adopt electronic tendering in the context of an emerging African market (i.e. Morocco). Specifically, the authors focus on SMEs contributing to the public procurement process and registered in the online portal recently created by the Moroccan government.

To achieve this goal, the authors proposed a conceptual model combining the unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) and technology acceptance model (TAM). Based on data collected from suppliers participating in Moroccan public tenders, the authors empirically tested the conceptual model using a partial least squares (PLS) estimation.

Facilitating conditions and social influence had a positive impact on SMEs intention to adopt electronic tendering. The study’s findings also convey a negative impact of effort expectancy on SMEs intent to adopt e-tendering. Unexpectedly, perceived performance had no significant impact on the intention to adopt electronic bidding among Moroccan SMEs.

This research filled the gap in the literature with regards to SMEs e-Tendering readiness in emerging markets. With the recent digitalization reforms of public tendering in many developing economies (i.e. Morocco), the study findings can be used to improve not only government implementation of electronic bidding but also SMEs' user experience.

This paper aims to investigate the influence of sustainable enterprise resource planning (S-ERPs) systems implementation on sustainability performance.

A 1 × 2 experiment was conducted, involving a sample of 72 professional accountants enrolled in MPA, MBA and DBA programs at two prominent Egyptian universities. Simple linear regression was used to analyze the data.

The results reveal positive relationships between the implementation of S-ERPs and economic, environmental and social sustainability performance.

Considering the research methodology used, which relies on a laboratory experiment design; nevertheless, empirical data derived from a quasi-experiment conducted in a real-world context would offer valuable insights into the existing literature.

For manufacturing sector managers, the results offer value as organizations can benefit from S-ERP adoption in the internal and external integration of sustainability functions. The findings also provide decision-makers in the manufacturing context, particularly in emerging countries, with tangible reasons to consider S-ERP adoption for holistic sustainability benefits including waste management, resource consumption reduction and management of sustainable supply chain complexities. Further, the findings provide valuable insights for ERP vendors on how they can develop their ERP packages to align with software sustainability criteria.

This study is among the few that experimentally investigates the influence of S-ERPs implementation on sustainability performance within the manufacturing sector, especially in an emerging context such as Egypt. This unique contribution provides valuable insights into the complex connection between technology adoption and sustainability outcomes.

This study aims to explore the challenges and opportunities of adopting Industry 4.0 technologies in Africa, specifically focusing on the automotive industries in Morocco and Nigeria. By comparing these two leading African countries in Industry 4.0 adoption, the research seeks to identify key factors influencing the implementation of smart manufacturing technologies and to provide insights into the potential benefits and challenges faced.

The research uses a multiple case study design with a quantitative approach, collecting data through structured questionnaires from 167 participants across five automotive companies in Morocco and Nigeria. Regression analysis assessed the impact of opportunities and challenges. Statistical analysis identified significant differences between the two countries.

The study reveals significant differences in the perceived challenges and benefits of Industry 4.0 adoption between Morocco and Nigeria. In Morocco, key challenges include high implementation costs and resistance to change, whereas, in Nigeria, lack of skilled workforce and high implementation costs are predominant barriers. Both countries recognize the benefits of improved productivity, better product quality and enhanced supply chain agility.

While focused on two countries and the automotive industry, the study provides valuable insights into Industry 4.0 adoption in Africa, with potential for expanded future research.

The insights provided by this study can guide policymakers in developing tailored strategies to support Industry 4.0 adoption in Africa. For organizations, understanding the specific challenges and benefits can aid in designing effective Industry 4.0 implementation plans, enhancing competitiveness and achieving sustainable growth.

By providing a comparative analysis of Morocco and Nigeria, the study offers unique insights into the specific factors influencing Industry 4.0 implementation in different African contexts with differences between North and West of Africa.

The purpose of this paper is to examine how chief executive officers’ (CEOs) narcissism impacts firm performance and how this, in turn, affects a CEO’s positive rhetorical tone.

The narcissism score is measured by using an analytical composite score for each CEO based on eight factors. The paper uses textual analysis on a sample of 848 CEO letters of US firms over the period 2010–2019. WarpPLS software, version 7.0 was used to conduct structural equation modeling through the partial least squares because a non-linear algorithm exists between CEO narcissism, firm performance and positive tone, and the values of path coefficients moved from non-significant to significant.

The results suggest that performance partially mediates the relationship between CEO narcissism and positive tone. This indicates that not all the positivity expressed by narcissistic CEOs is opportunism; some of it is indeed driven by better performance. The reported findings indicate that firm performance explains one-quarter of a CEO’s positive words, whereas some three-quarters of the positivity is driven by a narcissistic CEO (i.e. opportunism). A comparison of letters signed by highly narcissistic and less narcissistic leaders reveals that among those letters signed by highly narcissistic leaders, firm performance plays a significant mediating role between narcissistic tendencies and positive tone. However, among those with less narcissistic score, there is no evidence that performance mediates the tone and narcissism. Interestingly, both highly narcissistic and less narcissistic CEOs use positive words and optimistic expressions even when their firms perform poorly or negatively.

The results help shareholders be aware that CEOs may opportunistically use their personal characteristics and language to manipulate them. Data limitations about women CEOs were one of the reasons behind the small proportion of women CEOs in this study, making it low in generalizability.

A comprehensive review showed that none of previous studies examined the more ambiguous relationship between a CEO’s narcissist tendency, the firm’s performance, and CEO rhetorical tone. As one set of studies focused on Narcissism → Performance, and the other one on Performance → Tone, this current study completes the picture with Narcissism → Performance → Tone.

This study aims to explore the application of the theory of planned behavior (TPB) in understanding Muslim consumers’ visitation motives to halal hotels. The model tests the impact of additional factors to the TPB such as religious commitment, religious-identification and information seeking behavior on consumers’ attitudes and intentions to visit Halal hotels.

Survey data was collected from 183 respondents to examine the relationships between these factors and customers’ intention to visit halal hotels. The survey participants were selected from diverse backgrounds to ensure a representative sample. Structural equation modeling was used to assess the conceptual model.

This study highlights the significance of attitudes shaped by subjective norms and information seeking behavior, emphasizing their influence on consumers’ inclination to visit halal hotels. In addition, the role of religious commitment is examined, shedding light on the impact of individuals’ strong faith in shaping their attitudes and behaviors toward halal hotels.

These results contribute to the existing literature on Halal consumer behavior and provide practical implications for professionals and policymakers in the hospitality industry. Understanding the factors that influence customers’ intentions to visit halal hotels can assist in developing tailored marketing strategies and creating an inclusive environment.