IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/intfin/v58y2019icp269-283.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Corporate governance, external control, and environmental information transparency: Evidence from emerging markets

Author

Listed:
  • Jacoby, Gady
  • Liu, Mingzhi
  • Wang, Yefeng
  • Wu, Zhenyu
  • Zhang, Ying

Abstract

Using a sample of 4195 observations from 19 emerging markets, we investigate how internal corporate governance, external monitoring, and legal and business environment jointly affect a firm’s managerial effectiveness in environmental information transparency in an international setting. The empirical results show that in emerging economies, firms with stronger corporate governance mechanisms tend to adopt an external control strategy in order to mitigate owner-manager agency conflicts. Furthermore, internal corporate governance mechanisms are found to directly increase firm transparency concerning environmental damage and to indirectly do so through external control device. The legal and business environments of countries in which firms operate moderate these relationships.

Suggested Citation

  • Jacoby, Gady & Liu, Mingzhi & Wang, Yefeng & Wu, Zhenyu & Zhang, Ying, 2019. "Corporate governance, external control, and environmental information transparency: Evidence from emerging markets," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 269-283.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:intfin:v:58:y:2019:i:c:p:269-283
    DOI: 10.1016/j.intfin.2018.11.015
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1042443118304463
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.intfin.2018.11.015?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Utpal Bhattacharya & Hazem Daouk, 2002. "The World Price of Insider Trading," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(1), pages 75-108, February.
    2. Stijn Claessens & Luc Laeven, 2003. "Financial Development, Property Rights, and Growth," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 58(6), pages 2401-2436, December.
    3. Acharya, Viral V. & Amihud, Yakov & Litov, Lubomir, 2011. "Creditor rights and corporate risk-taking," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 102(1), pages 150-166, October.
    4. Thomas Blondiau & Carole M. Billiet & Sandra Rousseau, 2015. "Comparison of criminal and administrative penalties for environmental offenses," European Journal of Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 39(1), pages 11-35, February.
    5. Shleifer, Andrei & Vishny, Robert W, 1997. "A Survey of Corporate Governance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(2), pages 737-783, June.
    6. Randall Morck & Daniel Wolfenzon & Bernard Yeung, 2004. "Corporate Governance, Economic Entrenchment and Growth," NBER Working Papers 10692, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    7. Shujun Ding & Baozhi Qu & Zhenyu Wu, 2016. "Family Control, Socioemotional Wealth, and Governance Environment: The Case of Bribes," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 136(3), pages 639-654, July.
    8. La Porta, Rafael & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1997. "Legal Determinants of External Finance," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 52(3), pages 1131-1150, July.
    9. René Orij, 2010. "Corporate social disclosures in the context of national cultures and stakeholder theory," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(7), pages 868-889, September.
    10. Djankov, Simeon & Glaeser, Edward & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2003. "The new comparative economics," Journal of Comparative Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(4), pages 595-619, December.
    11. Jensen, Michael C. & Meckling, William H., 1976. "Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 305-360, October.
    12. Rajat Panwar & Karen Paul & Erlend Nybakk & Eric Hansen & Derek Thompson, 2014. "The Legitimacy of CSR Actions of Publicly Traded Companies Versus Family-Owned Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(3), pages 481-496, December.
    13. Spence, Michael, 1974. "Competitive and optimal responses to signals: An analysis of efficiency and distribution," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 7(3), pages 296-332, March.
    14. Nasha Ananchotikul & Roy Kouwenberg & Visit Phunnarungsi, 2010. "Do Firms Decouple Corporate Governance Policy and Practice?," European Financial Management, European Financial Management Association, vol. 16(5), pages 712-737, November.
    15. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert W. Vishny, 1998. "Law and Finance," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 106(6), pages 1113-1155, December.
    16. Stephen A. Ross, 1977. "The Determination of Financial Structure: The Incentive-Signalling Approach," Bell Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 8(1), pages 23-40, Spring.
    17. Shuili Du & Edward Vieira, 2012. "Striving for Legitimacy Through Corporate Social Responsibility: Insights from Oil Companies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 110(4), pages 413-427, November.
    18. Igor Filatotchev & Roger Strange & Jenifer Piesse & Yung-Chih Lien, 2007. "FDI by firms from newly industrialised economies in emerging markets: corporate governance, entry mode and location," Journal of International Business Studies, Palgrave Macmillan;Academy of International Business, vol. 38(4), pages 556-572, July.
    19. Smith, Clifford Jr., 1986. "Investment banking and the capital acquisition process," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(1-2), pages 3-29.
    20. Daniel Kaufmann & Aart Kraay & Massimo Mastruzzi, 2003. "Governance Matters III: Governance Indicators for 1996-2002," Macroeconomics 0308006, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    21. Donghui Li & Fariborz Moshirian & Peter Kien Pham & Jason Zein, 2006. "When Financial Institutions Are Large Shareholders: The Role of Macro Corporate Governance Environments," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 61(6), pages 2975-3007, December.
    22. Weisbach, Michael S., 1988. "Outside directors and CEO turnover," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 20(1-2), pages 431-460, January.
    23. Santhakumar, V., 2003. "Citizens' actions for protecting the environment in developing countries: an economic analysis of the outcome with empirical cases from India," Environment and Development Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 8(3), pages 505-528, July.
    24. Peter A. Stanwick & Sarah D. Stanwick, 2001. "CEO compensation: does it pay to be green?," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 10(3), pages 176-182, May.
    25. Christian Langpap, 2007. "Pollution abatement with limited enforcement power and citizen suits," Journal of Regulatory Economics, Springer, vol. 31(1), pages 57-81, February.
    26. Daouk, Hazem & Lee, Charles M.C. & Ng, David, 2006. "Capital market governance: How do security laws affect market performance?," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 560-593, June.
    27. Fama, Eugene F & Jensen, Michael C, 1983. "Separation of Ownership and Control," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 26(2), pages 301-325, June.
    28. Nan Sun & Aly Salama & Khaled Hussainey & Murya Habbash, 2010. "Corporate environmental disclosure, corporate governance and earnings management," Managerial Auditing Journal, Emerald Group Publishing, vol. 25(7), pages 679-700, July.
    29. Michaël Aklin & Patrick Bayer & S. Harish & Johannes Urpelainen, 2014. "Who blames corruption for the poor enforcement of environmental laws? Survey evidence from Brazil," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 16(3), pages 241-262, July.
    30. Luzi Hail & Christian Leuz, 2006. "International Differences in the Cost of Equity Capital: Do Legal Institutions and Securities Regulation Matter?," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(3), pages 485-531, June.
    31. Klaus E. Meyer & Hung Vo Nguyen, 2005. "Foreign Investment Strategies and Sub‐national Institutions in Emerging Markets: Evidence from Vietnam," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 63-93, January.
    32. 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.
    33. Kaufmann, Daniel & Kraay, Aart & Mastruzzi, Massimo, 2003. "Government matters III : governance indicators for 1996-2002," Policy Research Working Paper Series 3106, The World Bank.
    34. Joseph P. H. Fan & T. J. Wong, 2005. "Do External Auditors Perform a Corporate Governance Role in Emerging Markets? Evidence from East Asia," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(1), pages 35-72, March.
    35. Surekha Rana & Padma Misra, 2010. "Operational Dimension of CSR: An Empirical Assessment of BSE and NSE Listed Companies," Vision, , vol. 14(1-2), pages 57-66, January.
    36. Borokhovich, Kenneth A. & Parrino, Robert & Trapani, Teresa, 1996. "Outside Directors and CEO Selection," Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, Cambridge University Press, vol. 31(3), pages 337-355, September.
    37. Brickley, James A & James, Christopher M, 1987. "The Takeover Market, Corporate Board Composition, and Ownership Structure: The Case of Banking," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 30(1), pages 161-180, April.
    38. Carl J. Kock & Juan Santaló & Luis Diestre, 2012. "Corporate Governance and the Environment: What Type of Governance Creates Greener Companies?," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 49(3), pages 492-514, May.
    39. Faccio, Mara & Lang, Larry H. P., 2002. "The ultimate ownership of Western European corporations," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(3), pages 365-395, September.
    40. Jayaraman, Sudarshan, 2012. "The effect of enforcement on timely loss recognition: Evidence from insider trading laws," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 53(1), pages 77-97.
    41. Daniel Han Ming Chng & Matthew S. Rodgers & Eric Shih & Xiao‐Bing Song, 2012. "When does incentive compensation motivate managerial behaviors? An experimental investigation of the fit between incentive compensation, executive core self‐evaluation, and firm performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(12), pages 1343-1362, December.
    42. John Child & Terence Tsai, 2005. "The Dynamic Between Firms’ Environmental Strategies and Institutional Constraints in Emerging Economies: Evidence from China and Taiwan," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 42(1), pages 95-125, January.
    43. 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.
    44. Weichieh Su & Mike W. Peng & Weiqiang Tan & Yan-Leung Cheung, 2016. "The Signaling Effect of Corporate Social Responsibility in Emerging Economies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(3), pages 479-491, March.
    45. Jordi Surroca & Josep A. Tribó & Sandra Waddock, 2010. "Corporate responsibility and financial performance: the role of intangible resources," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 463-490, May.
    46. Julia Wolf, 2014. "The Relationship Between Sustainable Supply Chain Management, Stakeholder Pressure and Corporate Sustainability Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 119(3), pages 317-328, February.
    47. Healy, Paul M. & Palepu, Krishna G., 2001. "Information asymmetry, corporate disclosure, and the capital markets: A review of the empirical disclosure literature," Journal of Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 31(1-3), pages 405-440, September.
    48. Fan, Joseph P.H. & Huang, Jun & Zhu, Ning, 2013. "Institutions, ownership structures, and distress resolution in China," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 23(C), pages 71-87.
    49. Michael C. Jensen, 2005. "Agency Costs of Overvalued Equity," Financial Management, Financial Management Association, vol. 34(1), Spring.
    50. Shujun Ding & Chunxin Jia & Zhenyu Wu & Wenlong Yuan, 2016. "Environmental Management Under Subnational Institutional Constraints," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 134(4), pages 631-648, April.
    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. Li, Changhong & Li, Jialong & Liu, Mingzhi & Wang, Yuan & Wu, Zhenyu, 2017. "Anti-misconduct policies, corporate governance and capital market responses: International evidence," Journal of International Financial Markets, Institutions and Money, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 47-60.
    2. Ormazabal, Gaizka, 2018. "The Role of Stakeholders in Corporate Governance: A View from Accounting Research," CEPR Discussion Papers 12775, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    3. ATM Adnan & Nisar Ahmed, 2019. "The Transformation Of The Corporate Governance Model: A Literature Review," Copernican Journal of Finance & Accounting, Uniwersytet Mikolaja Kopernika, vol. 8(3), pages 7-47.
    4. Teresa Chu & In-Mu Haw & Bryan Lee & Woody Wu, 2014. "Cost of equity capital, control divergence, and institutions: the international evidence," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 43(3), pages 483-527, October.
    5. Claessens, Stijn & Yurtoglu, B. Burcin, 2013. "Corporate governance in emerging markets: A survey," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 1-33.
    6. Gisbert, Ana & Navallas, Begoña, 2013. "The association between voluntary disclosure and corporate governance in the presence of severe agency conflicts," Advances in accounting, Elsevier, vol. 29(2), pages 286-298.
    7. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    8. Djankov, Simeon & La Porta, Rafael & Lopez-de-Silanes, Florencio & Shleifer, Andrei, 2008. "The law and economics of self-dealing," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(3), pages 430-465, June.
    9. Andrei Shleifer & Florencio Lopez-de-Silanes & Rafael La Porta, 2008. "The Economic Consequences of Legal Origins," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 46(2), pages 285-332, June.
    10. Niamh M. Brennan & Jill Solomon, 2008. "Corporate governance, accountability and mechanisms of accountability: an overview," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 21(7), pages 885-906, September.
    11. Haß, Lars Helge & Vergauwe, Skrålan & Zhang, Qiyu, 2014. "Corporate governance and the information environment: Evidence from Chinese stock markets," International Review of Financial Analysis, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 106-119.
    12. Henrique Castro Martins & Cristiano Machado Costa, 2020. "Does control concentration affect board busyness? International evidence," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 24(3), pages 821-850, September.
    13. Ferrell, Allen & Liang, Hao & Renneboog, Luc, 2016. "Socially responsible firms," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 122(3), pages 585-606.
    14. Fuxiu Jiang & Kenneth A Kim, 2020. "Corporate Governance in China: A Survey [The role of boards of directors in corporate governance: a conceptual framework and survey]," Review of Finance, European Finance Association, vol. 24(4), pages 733-772.
    15. Shkendije Himaj, 2014. "Corporate Governance in Banks and its Impact on Risk and Performance: Review of Literature on the Selected Governance Mechanisms," Journal of Central Banking Theory and Practice, Central bank of Montenegro, vol. 3(3), pages 53-85.
    16. Lucian A. Bebchuk & Michael S. Weisbach, 2012. "The State of Corporate Governance Research," Springer Books, in: Sabri Boubaker & Bang Dang Nguyen & Duc Khuong Nguyen (ed.), Corporate Governance, edition 127, pages 325-346, Springer.
    17. Polovina, Nereida & Peasnell, Ken, 2020. "Do minority acquisitions transfer better corporate governance practices? An analysis of UK's cross-border minority investments," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 52(3).
    18. Connelly, J. Thomas & Limpaphayom, Piman & Nagarajan, Nandu J., 2012. "Form versus substance: The effect of ownership structure and corporate governance on firm value in Thailand," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 36(6), pages 1722-1743.
    19. Karima Bouaiss & Christine Marsal, 2009. "Les mécanismes internes de gouvernance dans les banques:un état de l'art," Revue Finance Contrôle Stratégie, revues.org, vol. 12(1), pages 93-126, March.
    20. Hsu, Audrey Wen-hsin & Liu, Sophia Hsin-Tsai, 2016. "Organizational structure, agency costs, and accrual quality," Journal of Contemporary Accounting and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(1), pages 35-60.

    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:eee:intfin:v:58:y:2019:i:c:p:269-283. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/intfin .

    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.