Strategic human resource governance and forward-looking information disclosure: the role of board gender diversity and audit committee expertise

This study examines the impact of board gender diversity and audit committee members' accounting expertise on forward-looking information disclosure (FLID) within the agency theory framework. Using panel data from 201 firms listed on the Indonesia Stock Exchange across six strategic sectors from 2020-2024, a quantitative approach with robust panel regression is applied. The findings reveal that board gender diversity has a significant but negative effect on FLID, suggesting that gender-diverse boards influence disclosure through conservative monitoring rather than increased disclosure volume. Conversely, accounting expertise of audit committee members shows no significant effect, implying that such expertise enhances reporting quality without affecting discretionary disclosure. Control variables, including board size, firm size, leverage, firm age, and year effects, significantly influence disclosure behaviour. Overall, the study demonstrates that internal governance mechanisms may discipline rather than expand disclosure in emerging markets, highlighting contextual governance effects and offering implications for regulators and policymakers.