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This study tests the proprietary cost of reporting sustainability practices. It explores how market competition impacts the reporting of corporate sustainability information. Further, it examines whether the influence of market competition on sustainability reporting is affected by firm size.

It uses two samples of the UK FTSE 350 and German Frankfurt CDAX nonfinancial firms from 2010 to 2023. The sustainability reporting scores for UK and German firms are their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure scores based on the Bloomberg disclosure index. The Herfindahl–Hirschman index has been utilized to measure a firm’s degree of market competition.

The results reveal that reporting sustainability practices is a negative function of the degree of market competition. Specifically, companies in highly competitive industries disclose less information about their sustainability practices, suggesting that firms view sustainability reporting as a potential source of competitive disadvantage and, therefore, choose to limit such disclosures to maintain a strategic advantage over rivals. Further, the findings reveal a negative impact of market competition on sustainability reporting among small firms. However, this effect is weak or absent among medium and large firms. The results are more observable in the liberal market economy (i.e. the UK) than in the coordinated market economy (i.e. Germany).

It provides implications for policymakers and market participants to advocate for more significant policies that promote transparency and encourage companies to report their sustainability practices and performance, especially companies in highly competitive industries.

It provides the first evidence of how market competition influences corporate sustainability reporting, adding a deeper insight into another non-financial dimension of sustainability reporting. Likewise, it reflects the varying priorities of companies of different sizes in managing both competition and sustainability reporting. Besides, it is the first to explore this nexus in two distinct jurisdictions: the UK and Germany.

The purpose of this study is to provide a detailed descriptive account and analysis of corporate internet reporting (CIR) practices among non-financial companies listed on the Egyptian Exchange (EGX) at two points in time – December 2010 (pre) and December 2013 (peri) political and social unrest in Egypt.

The study developed a disclosure index to determine the extent of CIR practices among all non-financial companies listed on the EGX in December 2010 and December 2013. The study uses ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions and isometric log-ratio transformations for compositional independent variables to empirically examine the factors affecting CIR in Egypt using a modern institutional theory lens.

The findings of this investigation suggest that listed companies in Egypt have started embracing the power of the internet as a disclosure channel, but the extent of these practices increased significantly over the investigated period, with great variations evident among the sampled companies in this regard. Such variations were chiefly dependent on the changing institutional actors over the two time frames. Additionally, the findings show that the time factor is particularly important for a given institutional field to induce a sufficient diffusion of corporate practices, especially in periods with drastic institutional change.

The evidence presented reflects the voluntary nature of CIR practices and the absence of a reinforced regulatory framework for organizing and monitoring such practices, with companies having discretion in terms of the amount and type of information disclosed via their websites. The results should, therefore, provide useful guidelines for regulators and standard-setters in identifying best practices, which, in turn, should allow CIR practices to become more consistent, making them easier to monitor and govern.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that examines CIR practices at two points in time using a comprehensive disclosure index and a modern institutional theory lens.

This study aims to examine the association between anti-corruption corporate disclosure and earnings management practices by bringing evidence from a developed market.

The study uses data from non-financial FTSE 100 Shares in 2016 and 2017. This study develops a disclosure index to capture the anti-corruption disclosures and run pooled, fixed effects and generalized methods of moments regression models to explore the anti-corruption disclosure–earnings management association. This study also disentangles discretionary accruals into positive and negative, use adjusted discretionary accrual computation and take a more conservative view on discretionary accruals computation as an additional analysis.

The results show a negative and significant association between anti-corruption disclosure and earnings management practices. When disentangling discretionary accruals (overvalued/positive and undervalued/negative), the authors found that higher anti-corruption disclosures were negatively associated with positive discretionary accruals, but not associated with negative discretionary accruals. The additional analysis confirmed the previous results, showing that anti-corruption disclosures are perceived as a substantive practice, rather than a mere disclosure practice for legitimacy reasons.

This study contributes to debate on the symbolic versus the substantive uses of anti-corruption disclosures in the UK context.

This study aims to explore the set of corporate social responsibility (CSR) committee attributes that may enhance CSR performance and CSR strategy formation and reduce CSR controversies.[AQ1] Towards this end, the study also explores the differences between companies with and without CSR committees in terms of these three CSR performance facets.

The study uses a sample of financial times stock exchange (FTSE) 100 non-financial companies in 2015–2017. Kruskal-Wallis test is conducted to test the differences in CSR performance in firms with CSR board-level committee, CSR management committee and no committees. Additionally, a regression model is used to explore the attributes of CSR committees that lead to better/less CSR performance and CSR strategy/CSR controversies. A two-stage least squares regression model was used as a robustness check.

Firms with board CSR committee have better CSR performance and CSR strategy and lower CSR controversies than both firms with no CSR committees and firms with a CSR management committee. Regression results show that CSR committees that are predominantly consisting of independent board members, chaired by a female director and setting more meetings have better CSR performance. Additionally, CSR committees were found to have lower CSR controversies when having more independent directors and a chair with CSR expertise. CSR strategy was better with the CSR committee represented by a larger group of members.

This study makes several contributions to the sustainability governance literature and regulatory/guidance interfaces. There is extant literature examining audit committee attributes and their effects on various firm outcomes. The same can be said on the regulations of the audit committee. CSR committees’ composition and benefits are, by far, less regulated and largely under-researched. Hence, this paper is considered an early attempt to explore the CSR performance improvements a CSR committee may bring and the composition that would bring better CSR performance.

This paper aims to answer whether board attributes affect corporate social responsibility disclosure quality (CSRDQ) and whether these findings are sensitive to CSRDQ measurement.

The authors use the content analysis method to measure CSRDQ in annual report narratives of 41 Mauritian-listed companies for 2008–2019. System-generalized method of moments is used to test research hypotheses.

The analysis shows that board attributes affect CSRDQ. It also shows that the impact of CSRDQ is sensitive to CSRDQ measurement.

This study informs stakeholders on the drivers of CSRDQ. Mauritius authorities could revise the corporate governance code to enhance CSRDQ, and the Stock Exchange of Mauritius could also provide regulations/guidance to listed companies to improve their CSRDQ.

This study brings new insights by viewing CSRDQ based on verifiability, as verifiable CSR reporting improves the fairness of information disclosed by management.

This paper aims to examine trends in the content of reporting within 135 UK higher education institutions (HEIs). It explores the extent to which integrated reporting (IR) content elements, reflecting integrated thinking, are disclosed voluntarily and whether HEI-specific features influence the resulting disclosures.

Existing IR guidelines given by the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) and the adoption of content analysis have provided the opportunity to examine the trend and extent of IR content elements associated in HEI corporate reports. The evidence was obtained from 405 UK HEI annual reports covering the period 2014-2016.

The results indicate a significant increase in the number of IR content elements embedded in HEI annual reports. The HEI-specific characteristics examined, such as the establishment of HEI (before or after 1992), adoption of IR framework and size of HEI, are all significantly and positively associated with IR content elements disclosure. This paper argues that institutional theory, isomorphism and isopraxism are relevant for explaining the changes in the contents of HEI annual reports. The findings also suggest that universities are beginning to adopt an integrated thinking approach to the reporting of their activities.

The study is based on IR content elements only and could be extended to include the fundamental concepts and basic principles of the IR framework. There are other factors that have a potentially crucial influence on HEI core activities (such as teaching and learning research and internationalisation) which have been omitted from this study.

The findings will allow policymakers to evaluate the extent to which integrated thinking is taking place and influencing the UK HEI sector in the selection and presentation of information. A further implication of the findings is that an appropriate a sector-wide enforcement and compliance body, for instance, the British Universities Finance Directors Group (BUFDG), may consider developing voluntary IR guidance in a clear, consistent, concise and comparable format. Also, it may pursue regulatory support for this guidance. In doing so, it may monitor the compliance and disclosure levels of appropriate IR requirements. Within such a framework, IR could be used to assist HEIs to make more sustainable choices and allow stakeholders to better understand aspects of HEI performance.

The research has implications for society within and beyond the unique UK HEI sector. Universities are places of advanced thinking and can lead the way for other sectors by demonstrating the potential of integrated thinking to create a cohesive wide-ranging discourse and create engagement among stakeholder groups. Specifically, IR builds on the strong points of accounting, for instance, robust quantitative evidence collecting, relevance, reliability, materiality, comparability and assurability, to explain the sustainability discourse into a “language” logical to HEIs organisational decision makers. Consequently, IR may generate better visibility and knowledge of the financial values of exploiting capitals (financial, intellectual, human, manufactured, social and natural) and offer a multifaceted approach to reassess HEIs organizational performance in various sectors that support the growth of integrated thinking.

This is the first known study to explore HEI characteristics and link them with the level of voluntary IR content elements disclosed in UK HEIs.

This study aims to identify the impacts of corporate governance (CG) and institutional context on multilatinas’ corporate reporting quality (CRQ). CG and institutional context facilitate the reduction of agency problems and the existence of accountability processes that minimize information asymmetries.

A panel data model was developed from a sample of 77 multilatinas studied during the 2014–2020 period. Different estimations were carried out through the panel data model to identify the impact of CG and institutional context on CRQ.

It is evidenced that appropriate CG structure has a positive impact on multilatinas’ CRQ. In addition, each country’s regulatory quality is confirmed to have a positive effect on firms to produce higher-quality reports.

This research provides empirical support to what is put forward by agency and stakeholder theory regarding the role that CG and institutional context play in reducing information asymmetries and improving accountability processes to all stakeholders in the Latin American context.

This study contributes original results to the existing literature. Unlike previous works, the present research analyzed multilatinas facing social and political contexts that differ from those of multinationals from developed countries. Different ways of reporting were also covered, going beyond traditional ways of evaluating CRQ – which generally take the sustainability report as a basis.

The present work aimed to investigate the impact of sustainability committees’ (SC) effectiveness in the Indian context in light of the Companies Act 2013. Particularly, we examined the direct and indirect links between SC effectiveness and corporate social responsibility (CSR) performance through the mediating role of CSR strategy.

This research analyzed the effect of SC effectiveness on CSR performance and the mediating effect of CSR strategy on the link between SC effectiveness and CSR performance of Indian listed companies following the Indian Companies Act 2013. Accordingly, we analyzed 480 observations in eight years (2014–2021) using panel regression analysis to test our hypotheses.

Regulatory mechanisms, such as the Companies Act 2013, enhance corporate governance efficiency. In this context, we confirm prior findings of a positive relationship between SC effectiveness and a firm’s CSR performance. Moreover, SC effectiveness enhances CSR performance through CSR strategy implementation.

The originality of this study lies in establishing direct and indirect links between SC effectiveness and CSR performance in light of the Companies Act 2013. Therefore, this paper enriches the literature on corporate governance, CSR strategies, and sustainability performance.

Strengthening ESG strategies in Malaysian banks is necessary as they continue to face difficulties integrating ESG into their strategies and disclosure despite existing government frameworks. This study aims to use stakeholder-resource-based view (RBV) concept to explore how board characteristics and ownership concentration influence ESG disclosure practices in Malaysian banks.

The study analysed annual, environmental, social and governance (ESG) and integrated reports of Malaysian banks from 2010 to 2022 to examine the effects of board characteristics on ESG disclosures. Using content analysis and 481 balanced data sets, ordinary least squares (OLS) and robust regressions were applied, with interaction terms testing the moderating effects of ownership concentration.

Board independence negatively impacts ESG disclosure in Malaysian banks, suggesting that independent directors may not prioritise sustainability. Board size, diversity and sustainability committees positively influence ESG practices. Ownership concentration interactions reinforce these findings, but board independence remains negatively significant.

Future research should expand the sample to other emerging markets, explore a wider range of bank board attributes and use advanced econometric methods to increase the generalisability of the results.

The study impacts theory, financial institutions and policy, redefining ESG practices in Malaysian banking. It highlights the role of board characteristics and the importance of ownership concentration. Several practical recommendations are provided.

The study impacts theory, financial institutions and policy by redefining ESG practices within Malaysian banking. It highlights the significance of board characteristics and ownership concentration, offering several practical recommendations.

The study fills gaps in the literature by examining the impact of board characteristics on ESG disclosures through content and statistical analyses. It integrates stakeholder theory with RBV to provide novel insights into ESG reporting in Malaysian banks, highlighting the role of high ownership concentration in emerging markets.

This paper aims to analyze the impact that sustainable board governance has on corporate social responsibility (CSR) on the European capital market because of the current debate of future European regulations on the topic.

Based on a legitimacy and stakeholder theoretical framework, the author conducts a structured literature review and includes 86 quantitative peer-reviewed empirical (archival) studies on board gender diversity, sustainability board expertise and sustainability-related executive compensation and their impact on CSR variables.

Gender board diversity represents the most important variable in this literature review. The included categories of sustainable board governance positively influence both the total CSR and environmental outputs.

A detailed analysis of sustainable board governance proxies is needed in future archival research to differentiate between symbolic and substantive use of CSR. In view of the current European reform initiatives on sustainable corporate governance in line with the EU Green Deal project, future research should also analyze the interactions between the included sustainable board governance variables and their contributions to CSR.

As both stakeholder demands’ on CSR outputs and CSR washing have increased since the financial crisis of 2008–2009, firms should be aware of a substantive integration of sustainability within their boards of directors (e.g. because of composition and compensation) to increase their CSR efforts and long-term firm reputation.

This analysis makes useful contributions to prior research by focusing on sustainable board governance as a key determinant of CSR outputs on the European capital market. The European Commission’s future evidence-based regulations [e.g. the corporate sustainability reporting directive (CSRD) and the corporate sustainability due diligence directive (CSDD)] should be promoted.