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This study aims to investigate the influence of corporate governance (CG) on environmental disclosure (ED) practices within UK and US firms, addressing the contemporary challenges confronting firms in both contexts.

Using the dynamic panel regression framework of system generalised method of moment (GMM), this study analyses a sample comprising 121 FTSE and 200 S&P firms from 2010 to 2020.

The findings emphasise the dynamic nature of ED practices among UK and US firms, demonstrating their propensity to swiftly adjust to desired levels whenever deviations occur. Besides, this study identifies board independence and the frequency of board meetings as significant determinants of ED for UK firms. In contrast, for US firms, board independence and audit committee independence are found to be significant determinants of ED.

The research highlights the fundamental role played by CG in shaping how firms in the UK and the US navigate agency problems and respond to diverse stakeholder demands through ED in their annual reports. This study advocates for the promotion of robust governance systems that concurrently serve the purposes of accountability and monitoring to bridge the information expectation gap between firms and stakeholders. The findings reinforce the necessity for regulatory initiatives involving policy formulation and corporate oversight to enhance private sector awareness regarding environmental reporting practices.

This study contributes to the scarce literature on the impact of board and audit committee characteristics on ED practices in the UK and US contexts. In addition, by using the system GMM estimation technique, this study provides robust and updated evidence that addresses the weaknesses inherent in previous studies.

Despite the rising trend of sustainable developmental goals (SDGs) incorporation into sustainability reporting, there remains a gap in understanding the role of SDG disclosure (SDGD) in the relationship between sustainability and financial performance. Thus, this study aims to investigate the relationship between sustainability performance and the level of SDGD; the relationship between sustainability performance and financial performance; and the link between the level of SDGD and financial performance.

Conducted in Italy, the analysis involves manual collection of sustainability reports from company websites for the fiscal years from 2019 to 2022, followed by textual analysis to identify SDG-related content disclosed in nonfinancial reports. Financial and nonfinancial data from Orbis and LSEG databases are used for regression analysis on panel data.

Findings align with existing literature, emphasizing the partial mediator role played by the level of SDGD in the relationship between sustainability performance and financial performance, measured by return on equity. In addition, the study suggests that there is a positive relationship between sustainability performance and the level of SDGD and a positive relationship between the level of SDGD and financial performance.

This study contributes to a deeper understanding of how SDG disclosures function within the broader nexus of sustainability performance and financial outcomes. Findings from this study provide empirical support for the argument that SDGD is not merely a regulatory compliance tool but also a strategic asset that can enhance a firm’s financial performance.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate current practices of water governance disclosure in the food, beverage and tobacco industry and to determine whether the quality of disclosure has a positive association with integrated reporting (IR).

A water governance disclosure index was developed that used content analysis to code the latest standalone social, environmental and sustainability reports or integrated reports of 49 companies in the food, beverage and tobacco industry. The selected companies are listed on three indices, the ASX, JSE and DJSI. This was followed by quantitatively testing the association between IR and the quality of water governance disclosure, as measured against the qualitatively developed index.

It was found that the 18 IR companies’ water governance disclosure quality significantly outperformed the 31 companies in the non-IR group, with a calculated index score of 71.67% and 40.97%, respectively.

The evidence indicates that IR is superior to non-IR water governance disclosure, and the study, therefore, contributes to the literature around the legitimacy theory by concluding that IR is supportive to companies to legitimise their being.

The originality of this paper stems from the comparison of water governance disclosures between IR and non-IR firms. Considering that IR preparers outperformed companies in the non-IR group could provide insights to academics, regulators and reporting organisations that IR could be used to enhance water governance disclosure.

This paper aims to verify whether the integration of sustainability in executive compensation positively affects firms’ non-financial performance and whether corporate governance characteristics enhance the relationship between sustainability compensation and firms’ non-financial performance and to expand the domain of the impact of sustainability on non-financial performance.

This analysis is based on a sample of companies listed on the Milan Italian Stock Exchange from the Financial Times Milan Stock Exchange Index over the 2016–2020 period. Regression analysis was used by using data retrieved from the Refinitiv Eikon database and the sample firms’ remuneration reports.

The findings of this paper show that embedding sustainability in executive compensation positively affects firms’ non-financial performance. The results of this paper also reveal that specific corporate governance features can improve the impact of sustainability on non-financial performance.

This analysis is limited to Italian firms included in the Financial Times Milan Stock Exchange Index; however, the findings are highly significant.

The findings provide regulators with useful insights for considering the integration of sustainability goals into executive remuneration. Another implication is that policymakers should require – at least – listed firms to fulfil specific corporate governance structural requirements. Finally, the findings can provide investors and financial analysts with a greater awareness of the role played by executive remuneration in the long-term value-creation process.

This paper contributes to addressing the relationship among sustainability, remuneration and non-financial disclosure, drawing on the stakeholder–agency theoretical framework and focusing on Italian firms. This issue has received limited attention with controversial results in the literature.

The purpose of this paper is to discover how Hungarian manufacturing companies interpret technology and human resources as driving forces and barriers in terms of Industry 4.0 implementation.

The authors conducted 23 semi-structured interviews with corporate leaders and applied qualitative content analysis using Atlas.ti software.

The authors formulated a new definition of Industry 4.0 which emphasises the role of human factors. The authors identified driving forces (efficiency with speed/information flow/precision) and barriers (technology compatibility, human fears and lack of digital skills) in terms of Industry 4.0 implementation and developed the DIGI-TEcH performance management dimensions.

Comparison with other countries is limited. Given the exploratory and qualitative nature, further quantitative research would be needed to generalise results. Finally, only manufacturing companies are examined.

It provides empirical evidence to practitioners to understand concerns about technology and human resource in terms of Industry 4.0 implementation. In addition, corporate performance management can be extended by the developed DIGI-TEcH dimensions.

This paper reveals key evidence for the uptake of technology and human factors in terms of Industry 4.0 implementation and their impacts on corporate operation and performance. It also provides an insight into a specific country context, which can be a useful benchmark for other Central and Eastern European countries.