Evolving Transparency: How Family Control Shapes ESG Disclosure Across Corporate Life Cycle

The growing global focus on sustainability has exerted considerable pressure to place greater emphasis on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues. This study explores the relationship between family control and ESG disclosure, incorporating the moderating effects of the corporate life cycle. Using a sample of 72 Malaysian family firms over 5 years (2018–2022), the research aims to investigate how varying degrees of family control influence ESG transparency at different phases of the life cycle, particularly through the lens of socioemotional wealth theory and corporate life cycle theory. The study employs feasible generalized least squares to address heteroscedasticity and autocorrelation, and two‐stage least squares to handle endogeneity. Findings reveal a significant negative relationship between family control and ESG disclosure, suggesting that Malaysian family firms prioritize family socio‐emotional wealth over enhanced transparency. Furthermore, the negative effect of family control on ESG disclosure intensifies during the mature phase of the corporate life cycle. The study extends corporate life cycle theory to the ESG–family firm setting and outlines theoretical and practical implications for emerging markets.