IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/acctfi/v63y2023i4p4065-4091.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Exploring the determinants of carbon management system quality: The role of corporate governance and climate risks and opportunities

Author

Listed:
  • Jibriel Elsayih
  • Rina Datt
  • Qingliang Tang
  • Ali Hamid
  • Maria Estela Varua

Abstract

We examine whether board governance dimensions, carbon risks and opportunities, and environmental management affect carbon management system quality (CMSQ). Based on 1035 firm‐year observations from UK companies from 2011 to 2018, we find that internal governance is significantly related to CMSQ. In addition, firms with a heightened degree of carbon risks and/or opportunities are motivated to adopt a high‐quality carbon management system to mitigate exposure and harness opportunities. Finally, climate risk and opportunity have an interactive and complementary effect on CMSQ (i.e., both climate risk and opportunity can strengthen the effect of the other on CMSQ). This study contributes significantly to a growing body of research on how corporate governance, carbon risks and carbon opportunities may simulate proactivity of corporate sustainability in general and carbon management strategy in particular. Our results provide insights for investors, policymakers, managers and regulators on the combined effect of greenhouse gas emissions and corporate governance practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Jibriel Elsayih & Rina Datt & Qingliang Tang & Ali Hamid & Maria Estela Varua, 2023. "Exploring the determinants of carbon management system quality: The role of corporate governance and climate risks and opportunities," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 63(4), pages 4065-4091, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:63:y:2023:i:4:p:4065-4091
    DOI: 10.1111/acfi.13086
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1111/acfi.13086
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1111/acfi.13086?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giovanna Michelon & Antonio Parbonetti, 2012. "The effect of corporate governance on sustainability disclosure," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 16(3), pages 477-509, August.
    2. Sterling Huang & Gilles Hilary, 2018. "Zombie Board: Board Tenure and Firm Performance," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(4), pages 1285-1329, September.
    3. Jiraporn, Pornsit & Davidson III, Wallace N. & DaDalt, Peter & Ning, Yixi, 2009. "Too busy to show up? An analysis of directors' absences," The Quarterly Review of Economics and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 1159-1171, August.
    4. Qingliang Tang & Le Luo, 2014. "Carbon Management Systems and Carbon Mitigation," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 24(1), pages 84-98, March.
    5. Okereke, Chukwumerije, 2007. "An Exploration of Motivations, Drivers and Barriers to Carbon Management:: The UK FTSE 100," European Management Journal, Elsevier, vol. 25(6), pages 475-486, December.
    6. Fama, Eugene F, 1980. "Agency Problems and the Theory of the Firm," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 88(2), pages 288-307, April.
    7. Rong He & Le Luo & Abul Shamsuddin & Qingliang Tang, 2022. "The Value Relevance of Corporate Investment in Carbon Abatement: The Influence of National Climate Policy," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 31(5), pages 1233-1261, October.
    8. Khaled Alsaifi & Marwa Elnahass & Aly Salama, 2020. "Carbon disclosure and financial performance: UK environmental policy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 711-726, February.
    9. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang & Juan Peng, 2018. "The direct and moderating effects of power distance on carbon transparency: An international investigation of cultural value and corporate social responsibility," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1546-1557, December.
    10. Kevin Campbell & Antonio Mínguez-Vera, 2008. "Gender Diversity in the Boardroom and Firm Financial Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 83(3), pages 435-451, December.
    11. Kin-Wai Lee & Cheng-Few Lee & Robert Faff, 2014. "Are Multiple Directorships Beneficial in East Asia?," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 54(3), pages 999-1032, September.
    12. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang, 2021. "Corporate governance and carbon performance: role of carbon strategy and awareness of climate risk," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 2891-2934, June.
    13. Fan, Hanlu & Tang, Qingliang & Pan, Lipeng, 2021. "An international study of carbon information asymmetry and independent carbon assurance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 53(1).
    14. Taïeb Hafsi & Gokhan Turgut, 2013. "Boardroom Diversity and its Effect on Social Performance: Conceptualization and Empirical Evidence," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 112(3), pages 463-479, February.
    15. Somaiya Yunus & Evangeline Elijido-Ten & Subhash Abhayawansa, 2016. "Determinants of carbon management strategy adoption: Evidence from Australia’s top 200 publicly listed firms," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 31(2), pages 156-179, February.
    16. Jibriel Elsayih & Qingliang Tang & Yi-Chen Lan, 2018. "Corporate governance and carbon transparency: Australian experience," Accounting Research Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 31(3), pages 405-422, September.
    17. Binh Bui & Larelle Chapple & Thu Phuong Truong, 2020. "Drivers of tight carbon control in the context of climate change regulation," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(1), pages 183-226, March.
    18. Mohammed Hossain & Omar Al Farooque & Mahmood Ahmed Momin & Obaid Almotairy, 2017. "Women in the boardroom and their impact on climate change related disclosure," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(4), pages 828-855, October.
    19. Rakesh Pandey & Pallab Kumar Biswas & Muhammad Jahangir Ali & Mansi Mansi, 2020. "Female directors on the board and cost of debt: evidence from Australia," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 60(4), pages 4031-4060, December.
    20. Judith L. Walls & Pascual Berrone & Phillip H. Phan, 2012. "Corporate governance and environmental performance: is there really a link?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 885-913, August.
    21. Walid Ben-Amar & Millicent Chang & Philip McIlkenny, 2017. "Board Gender Diversity and Corporate Response to Sustainability Initiatives: Evidence from the Carbon Disclosure Project," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 142(2), pages 369-383, May.
    22. Faizul Haque & Collins G Ntim, 2018. "Environmental Policy, Sustainable Development, Governance Mechanisms and Environmental Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(3), pages 415-435, March.
    23. Bui, Binh & de Villiers, Charl, 2017. "Business strategies and management accounting in response to climate change risk exposure and regulatory uncertainty," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(1), pages 4-24.
    24. Bui, Binh & Houqe, Muhammad Nurul & Zaman, Mahbub, 2020. "Climate governance effects on carbon disclosure and performance," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    25. Md Abubakar Siddique & Md Akhtaruzzaman & Afzalur Rashid & Helmi Hammami, 2021. "Carbon disclosure, carbon performance and financial performance: International evidence," Post-Print hal-03329120, HAL.
    26. Liao, Lin & Luo, Le & Tang, Qingliang, 2015. "Gender diversity, board independence, environmental committee and greenhouse gas disclosure," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 409-424.
    27. Heckman, James, 2013. "Sample selection bias as a specification error," Applied Econometrics, Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration (RANEPA), vol. 31(3), pages 129-137.
    28. Tantawy Moussa & Amir Allam & Said Elbanna & Ahmed Bani‐Mustafa, 2020. "Can board environmental orientation improve U.S. firms' carbon performance? The mediating role of carbon strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 72-86, January.
    29. Morten Huse & Violina Rindova, 2001. "Stakeholders' Expectations of Board Roles: The Case of Subsidiary Boards," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 5(2), pages 153-178, June.
    30. C. José García Martín & Begoña Herrero, 2020. "Do board characteristics affect environmental performance? A study of EU firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(1), pages 74-94, January.
    31. Kathyayini Rao & Carol Tilt, 2016. "Board diversity and CSR reporting: an Australian study," Meditari Accountancy Research, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 24(2), pages 182-210, June.
    32. George Kassinis & Alexia Panayiotou & Andreas Dimou & Georgia Katsifaraki, 2016. "Gender and Environmental Sustainability: A Longitudinal Analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 23(6), pages 399-412, November.
    33. Mahbub Zaman & Mohammed Hudaib & Roszaini Haniffa, 2011. "Corporate Governance Quality, Audit Fees and Non-Audit Services Fees," Journal of Business Finance & Accounting, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 38(1-2), pages 165-197, January.
    34. Christy Glass & Alison Cook & Alicia R. Ingersoll, 2016. "Do Women Leaders Promote Sustainability? Analyzing the Effect of Corporate Governance Composition on Environmental Performance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(7), pages 495-511, November.
    35. Amama Shaukat & Yan Qiu & Grzegorz Trojanowski, 2016. "Board Attributes, Corporate Social Responsibility Strategy, and Corporate Environmental and Social Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 135(3), pages 569-585, May.
    36. Vera Palea & Federico Drogo, 2020. "Carbon emissions and the cost of debt in the eurozone: The role of public policies, climate‐related disclosure and corporate governance," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 2953-2972, December.
    37. Tauringana, Venancio & Chithambo, Lyton, 2015. "The effect of DEFRA guidance on greenhouse gas disclosure," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(4), pages 425-444.
    38. Georg Weinhofer & Timo Busch, 2013. "Corporate Strategies for Managing Climate Risks," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(2), pages 121-144, February.
    39. Ishmael Tingbani & Lyton Chithambo & Venancio Tauringana & Nikolaos Papanikolaou, 2020. "Board gender diversity, environmental committee and greenhouse gas voluntary disclosures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2194-2210, September.
    40. Haque, Faizul, 2017. "The effects of board characteristics and sustainable compensation policy on carbon performance of UK firms," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 49(3), pages 347-364.
    41. Le Luo, 2019. "The influence of institutional contexts on the relationship between voluntary carbon disclosure and carbon emission performance," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 59(2), pages 1235-1264, June.
    42. Su‐Yol Lee & Robert D. Klassen, 2016. "Firms’ Response to Climate Change: The Interplay of Business Uncertainty and Organizational Capabilities," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(8), pages 577-592, December.
    43. Tang, Qingliang, 2016. "Carbon management system study: Contributions, limitations, and future opportunities: A response to discussion comments (2016)," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 310-314.
    44. Mohammad Jizi, 2017. "The Influence of Board Composition on Sustainable Development Disclosure," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(5), pages 640-655, July.
    45. Zhifang Zhou & Tao Zhang & Kang Wen & Huixiang Zeng & Xiaohong Chen, 2018. "Carbon risk, cost of debt financing and the moderation effect of media attention: Evidence from Chinese companies operating in high‐carbon industries," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1131-1144, December.
    46. Luo, Le & Tang, Qingliang, 2016. "Determinants of the Quality of Corporate Carbon Management Systems: An International Study," The International Journal of Accounting, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 275-305.
    47. Swarnodeep Homroy & Aurelie Slechten, 2019. "Do Board Expertise and Networked Boards Affect Environmental Performance?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(1), pages 269-292, August.
    48. Kenneth J. Rediker & Anju Seth, 1995. "Boards of directors and substitution effects of alternative governance mechanisms," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 16(2), pages 85-99.
    49. Dulacha G. Barako & Phil Hancock & H. Y. Izan, 2006. "Factors Influencing Voluntary Corporate Disclosure by Kenyan Companies," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 14(2), pages 107-125, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Le Luo & Qingliang Tang, 2021. "Corporate governance and carbon performance: role of carbon strategy and awareness of climate risk," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 61(2), pages 2891-2934, June.
    2. Mariasole Bannò & Emilia Filippi & Sandro Trento, 2023. "Women in top echelon positions and their effects on sustainability: a review, synthesis and future research agenda," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(1), pages 181-251, March.
    3. Nurshahirah Abd Majid & Amar Hisham Jaaffar & Raed Hussam Mansour Alzoubi, 2023. "The Impact of Women’s Role in Corporate Governance on Carbon Disclosure Performance: A Descriptive Study of Top 100 Global Energy Leaders," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 13(6), pages 404-417, November.
    4. Shubham Singhania & Jagvinder Singh & Deepti Aggrawal, 2023. "Gender diversity on board and corporate sustainability: a quantitative review based on bibliometric mapping," International Journal of System Assurance Engineering and Management, Springer;The Society for Reliability, Engineering Quality and Operations Management (SREQOM),India, and Division of Operation and Maintenance, Lulea University of Technology, Sweden, vol. 14(1), pages 267-286, February.
    5. Nurshahirah Abd Majid & Amar Hisham Jaaffar, 2023. "The Effect of Women’s Leadership on Carbon Disclosure by the Top 100 Global Energy Leaders," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-26, May.
    6. Claudio Nuber & Patrick Velte, 2021. "Board gender diversity and carbon emissions: European evidence on curvilinear relationships and critical mass," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1958-1992, May.
    7. Eugenio Zubeltzu‐Jaka & Igor Álvarez‐Etxeberria & Eduardo Ortas, 2020. "The effect of the size of the board of directors on corporate social performance: A meta‐analytic approach," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(3), pages 1361-1374, May.
    8. Nurlan Orazalin & Mady Baydauletov, 2020. "Corporate social responsibility strategy and corporate environmental and social performance: The moderating role of board gender diversity," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(4), pages 1664-1676, July.
    9. Rong He & Le Luo & Abul Shamsuddin & Qingliang Tang, 2022. "Corporate carbon accounting: a literature review of carbon accounting research from the Kyoto Protocol to the Paris Agreement," Accounting and Finance, Accounting and Finance Association of Australia and New Zealand, vol. 62(1), pages 261-298, March.
    10. Thi H.H. Nguyen & Mohamed H. Elmagrhi & Collins G. Ntim & Yue Wu, 2021. "Environmental performance, sustainability, governance and financial performance: Evidence from heavily polluting industries in China," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2313-2331, July.
    11. María‐Florencia Amorelli & Isabel‐María García‐Sánchez, 2021. "Trends in the dynamic evolution of board gender diversity and corporate social responsibility," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 28(2), pages 537-554, March.
    12. Konadu, Renata & Ahinful, Gabriel Sam & Boakye, Danquah Jeff & Elbardan, Hany, 2022. "Board gender diversity, environmental innovation and corporate carbon emissions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 174(C).
    13. Suham Cahyono & Iman Harymawan & Khairul Anuar Kamarudin, 2023. "The impacts of tenure diversity on boardroom and corporate carbon emission performance: Exploring from the moderating role of corporate innovation," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 30(5), pages 2507-2535, September.
    14. Douglas A. Adu & Basil Al‐Najjar & Thitima Sitthipongpanich, 2022. "Executive compensation, environmental performance, and sustainable banking: The moderating effect of governance mechanisms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1439-1463, May.
    15. Tantawy Moussa & Amir Allam & Said Elbanna & Ahmed Bani‐Mustafa, 2020. "Can board environmental orientation improve U.S. firms' carbon performance? The mediating role of carbon strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 72-86, January.
    16. Nurlan Orazalin, 2020. "Do board sustainability committees contribute to corporate environmental and social performance? The mediating role of corporate social responsibility strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(1), pages 140-153, January.
    17. Córdova Román, Carmen & Zorio-Grima, Ana & Merello, Paloma, 2021. "Economic development and CSR assurance: Important drivers for carbon reporting… yet inefficient drivers for carbon management?," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 163(C).
    18. Haque, Faizul & Jones, Michael John, 2020. "European firms’ corporate biodiversity disclosures and board gender diversity from 2002 to 2016," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(2).
    19. Rania Beji & Ouidad Yousfi & Nadia Loukil & Abdelwahed Omri, 2021. "Board Diversity and Corporate Social Responsibility: Empirical Evidence from France," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 173(1), pages 133-155, September.
    20. Pier Luigi Marchini & Veronica Tibiletti & Tatiana Mazza & Gianluca Gabrielli, 2022. "Gender quotas and the environment: Environmental performance and enforcement," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(1), pages 256-272, January.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:acctfi:v:63:y:2023:i:4:p:4065-4091. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/aaanzea.html .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.