The Role of Ethical Leadership in Enhancing Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) Disclosure: A Pathway Toward Sustainable Corporate Accountability

Growing regulatory, investor, and societal pressures have heightened the importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure as a key mechanism for corporate transparency and accountability, particularly in emerging markets. This study examines the relationship between ethical leadership and ESG disclosure among publicly listed companies in Saudi Arabia within the context of the Vision 2030 reforms. Drawing on ethical leadership theory and stakeholder theory, ethical leadership is conceptualized as an internal behavioral governance mechanism shaping firms’ sustainability reporting practices. The empirical analysis is based on panel data of 147 non-financial firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange (Tadawul) from 2020 to 2024, yielding 735 firm-year observations. ESG disclosure was measured using Refinitiv ESG scores, whereas ethical leadership was captured using the CSRHub Ethical Leadership Index. Employing a random-effects panel regression model with firm-level clustered robust standard errors, the results reveal a positive and statistically significant association between ethical leadership and ESG disclosure. These findings indicate that leadership ethics play an important role in enhancing transparency and accountability in sustainability reporting, and offer relevant implications for corporate governance and ESG policy development in Saudi Arabia.