IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/jfr/ijfr11/v10y2019i3p31-50.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Board Diversity and Corporate Sustainability Practices: Evidence on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting

Author

Listed:
  • Aida Maria Ismail
  • Izrul Haida Mohd Latiff

Abstract

The emerging awareness on sustainability issues among Malaysian listed companies has increased the voluntary disclosure on environmental, social and governance (ESG) in the annual report. This study examines the relationship of board diversity on firm¡¯s sustainability practices. Board diversity characteristics in terms of gender, age, board composition, board capabilities and board reputation are examined as to their influence towards firm¡¯s sustainability practice. The data includes the ESG Scores of 38 listed companies in Malaysia for the period in 2010¨C2016 which was obtained from the Thomson Reuters Eikon? Datastream. The result showed that board diversity traits such as age, board capabilities and board reputation are positively associated with firm¡¯s sustainability practices. In contrast, women director and independent directors are negatively related with firm sustainability practice. Result of this study helps to provide another viewpoint on the roles played by board members, particularly their diversity representations as the determinant for corporate sustainability practice.

Suggested Citation

  • Aida Maria Ismail & Izrul Haida Mohd Latiff, 2019. "Board Diversity and Corporate Sustainability Practices: Evidence on Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Reporting," International Journal of Financial Research, International Journal of Financial Research, Sciedu Press, vol. 10(3), pages 31-50, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:jfr:ijfr11:v:10:y:2019:i:3:p:31-50
    DOI: 10.5430/ijfr.v10n3p31
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/ijfr/article/view/15506/9611
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: http://www.sciedu.ca/journal/index.php/ijfr/article/view/15506
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.5430/ijfr.v10n3p31?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. Sandra A. Waddock & Samuel B. Graves, 1997. "The Corporate Social Performance–Financial Performance Link," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(4), pages 303-319, April.
    2. World Commission on Environment and Development,, 1987. "Our Common Future," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780192820808.
    3. 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.
    4. Ioannis Oikonomou & Chris Brooks & Stephen Pavelin, 2012. "The Impact of Corporate Social Performance on Financial Risk and Utility: A Longitudinal Analysis," Financial Management, Financial Management Association International, vol. 41(2), pages 483-515, June.
    5. S. Lim & Z. Matolcsy & D. Chow, 2007. "The Association between Board Composition and Different Types of Voluntary Disclosure," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 16(3), pages 555-583.
    6. Mao-Chang Wang, 2017. "The Relationship between Firm Characteristics and the Disclosure of Sustainability Reporting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14, April.
    7. Ioanna Boulouta, 2013. "Hidden Connections: The Link Between Board Gender Diversity and Corporate Social Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 113(2), pages 185-197, March.
    8. Freeman, R. Edward, 1994. "The Politics of Stakeholder Theory: Some Future Directions1," Business Ethics Quarterly, Cambridge University Press, vol. 4(4), pages 409-421, October.
    9. OBISESAN Oluwaseun G. & AJAYI Boboye L., 2017. "Randomness of Stock Return in Nigerian Banking Sector," Asian Journal of Economics and Empirical Research, Asian Online Journal Publishing Group, vol. 4(2), pages 99-105.
    10. Benjamin Richardson, 2009. "Keeping Ethical Investment Ethical: Regulatory Issues for Investing for Sustainability," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 87(4), pages 555-572, July.
    11. OBISESAN Oluwaseun G. & AJAYI Boboye L., 2017. "Randomness of Stock Return in Nigerian Banking Sector," Asian Journal of Economics and Empirical Research, Asian Online Journal Publishing Group, vol. 4(2), pages 99-105.
    12. Peter Roselle, 2016. "The Evolution of Integrating ESG Analysis into Wealth Management Decisions," Journal of Applied Corporate Finance, Morgan Stanley, vol. 28(2), pages 75-79, June.
    13. Warren Maroun, 2018. "Evaluating the temporal dimension of legitimisation strategies," Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 15(3), pages 282-312, June.
    14. Alan D. Smith & William T. Rupp & Darlene Motley, 2013. "Corporate reputation as strategic competitive advantage of manufacturing and service-based firms: multi-industry case study," International Journal of Services and Operations Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 14(2), pages 131-156.
    15. Alireza Vafaei & Kamran Ahmed & Paul Mather, 2015. "Board Diversity and Financial Performance in the Top 500 Australian Firms," Australian Accounting Review, CPA Australia, vol. 25(4), pages 413-427, December.
    16. Robert D. Klassen & Curtis P. McLaughlin, 1996. "The Impact of Environmental Management on Firm Performance," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 42(8), pages 1199-1214, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Parvez Alam Khan & Satirenjit Kaur Johl & Shireenjit K. Johl, 2021. "Does adoption of ISO 56002‐2019 and green innovation reporting enhance the firm sustainable development goal performance? An emerging paradigm," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 2922-2936, November.
    2. Hoang, Thi Hong Van & Pham, Linh & Nguyen, Thanh Thi Phuong, 2023. "Does country sustainability improve firm ESG reporting transparency? The moderating role of firm industry and CSR engagement," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    3. Quayson, Matthew & Bai, Chunguang & Mahmoudi, Amin & Hu, Weihao & Chen, Wei & Omoruyi, Osayuwamen, 2023. "Designing a decision support tool for integrating ESG into the natural resource extraction industry for sustainable development using the ordinal priority approach," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 85(PA).
    4. Khan, Muhammad Arif, 2022. "ESG disclosure and Firm performance: A bibliometric and meta analysis," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 61(C).
    5. Pochara Arayakarnkul & Pattanaporn Chatjuthamard & Sirimon Treepongkaruna, 2022. "Board gender diversity, corporate social commitment and sustainability," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(5), pages 1706-1721, September.
    6. Blessing Dirani, 2023. "In Stakeholder Capitalism, have all Actors Found Each Other or is it a Marriage of Convenience?," International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science, International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS), vol. 7(12), pages 1826-1838, December.

    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. Felipe Arias Fogliano de Souza Cunha & Erick Meira & Renato J. Orsato, 2021. "Sustainable finance and investment: Review and research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(8), pages 3821-3838, December.
    2. Yunyi Li & Charl de Villiers & Lina Zixuan Li & Leye Li, 2022. "The moderating effect of board gender diversity on the relation between corporate social responsibility and firm value," Journal of Management Control: Zeitschrift für Planung und Unternehmenssteuerung, Springer, vol. 33(1), pages 109-143, March.
    3. Trang Cam Hoang & Indra Abeysekera & Shiguang Ma, 2018. "Board Diversity and Corporate Social Disclosure: Evidence from Vietnam," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(3), pages 833-852, September.
    4. Hemantha S. B. Herath & Tejaswini C. Herath & Paul Dunn, 2019. "Profit-Driven Corporate Social Responsibility as a Bayesian Real Option in Green Computing," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 158(2), pages 387-402, August.
    5. Camélia Radu & Nadia Smaili, 2021. "Corporate performance patterns of Canadian listed firms: Balancing financial and corporate social responsibility outcomes," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(7), pages 3344-3359, November.
    6. Nekhili, Mehdi & Nagati, Haithem & Chtioui, Tawhid & Nekhili, Ali, 2017. "Gender-diverse board and the relevance of voluntary CSR reporting," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 81-100.
    7. Andrea Lippi, 2021. "The Relationship Between Board Composition and the Ratings Given to Green Bonds: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Management and Sustainability, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 11(1), pages 126-126, June.
    8. Nicola Cucari & Salvatore Esposito De Falco & Beatrice Orlando, 2018. "Diversity of Board of Directors and Environmental Social Governance: Evidence from Italian Listed Companies," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 25(3), pages 250-266, May.
    9. Liu Wu & Zhen Shao & Changhui Yang & Tao Ding & Wan Zhang, 2020. "The Impact of CSR and Financial Distress on Financial Performance—Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies of the Manufacturing Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(17), pages 1-19, August.
    10. Claude Francoeur & Réal Labelle & Souha Balti & Saloua EL Bouzaidi, 2019. "To What Extent Do Gender Diverse Boards Enhance Corporate Social Performance?," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 155(2), pages 343-357, March.
    11. Eduardo Ortas & Igor Álvarez & Eugenio Zubeltzu, 2017. "Firms’ Board Independence and Corporate Social Performance: A Meta-Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(6), pages 1-26, June.
    12. Paul B. McGuinness & João Paulo Vieito & Mingzhu Wang, 2020. "Proactive government intervention, board gender balance, and stakeholder engagement in China and Europe," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(3), pages 719-762, September.
    13. Gull, Ammar Ali & Atif, Muhammad & Ahsan, Tanveer & Derouiche, Imen, 2022. "Does waste management affect firm performance? International evidence," Economic Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 114(C).
    14. Karen Maas & Sanne Rosendaal, 2016. "Sustainability Targets in Executive Remuneration: Targets, Time Frame, Country and Sector Specification," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 25(6), pages 390-401, September.
    15. 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.
    16. Gu, Leilei & Liu, Zhongyang & Xu, Danyang, 2023. "The risk-mitigating role of corporate social responsibility in Chinese listed heavy-polluting companies: An extreme event experience perspective," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    17. Champagne, Claudia & Coggins, Frank & Sodjahin, Amos, 2022. "Can extra-financial ratings serve as an indicator of ESG risk?," Global Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 54(C).
    18. Amal Aouadi & Sylvain Marsat, 2018. "Do ESG Controversies Matter for Firm Value? Evidence from International Data," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 151(4), pages 1027-1047, September.
    19. Yuxuan Li & Xin Miao & Dequan Zheng & Yanhong Tang, 2019. "Corporate Public Transparency on Financial Performance: The Moderating Role of Political Embeddedness," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(19), pages 1-17, October.
    20. Maretno A. Harjoto & Dongshin Kim & Indrarini Laksmana & Richard C. Walton, 2019. "Corporate social responsibility and stock split," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 53(2), pages 575-600, August.

    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:jfr:ijfr11:v:10:y:2019:i:3:p:31-50. 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: Gina Perry (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://ijfr.sciedupress.com .

    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.