IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v10y2018i7p2578-d159526.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Board Governance and Sustainability Disclosure: A Cross-Sectional Study of Singapore-Listed Companies

Author

Listed:
  • Meibo Hu

    (Centre for Governance, Institutions and Organisations, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, 1 Business Link, Singapore 117592, Singapore)

  • Lawrence Loh

    (Department of Strategy and Policy, NUS Business School, National University of Singapore, 15 Kent Ridge Drive, Singapore 119245, Singapore)

Abstract

This paper aims to investigate the relationship between board governance and sustainability disclosure in Singapore. Regression analysis is performed using cross-sectional data of Singapore-listed companies to examine the relationship between sustainability disclosure and various board governance factors, including board capacity, board independence, and board incentive. The findings show the presence of significant associations between board governance and sustainability disclosure. In terms of board capacity, companies with larger board sizes and a higher number of board meetings are more likely to practice sustainability reporting, and their reporting qualities are higher. For board independence, the percentage of independent directors positively impacts the firm’s reporting probability and quality on sustainability in Singapore. For board incentives, the practice of long-term incentives for executive directors can significantly improve both the probability and quality of sustainability reporting. The study adds to the literature on corporate governance and sustainability disclosure. It provides empirical evidence and guidance for firms and policy-makers in Singapore and beyond on how sustainability disclosure can be improved through robust board governance.

Suggested Citation

  • Meibo Hu & Lawrence Loh, 2018. "Board Governance and Sustainability Disclosure: A Cross-Sectional Study of Singapore-Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(7), pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:7:p:2578-:d:159526
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/7/2578/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/10/7/2578/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Giovanna Michelon & Antonio Parbonetti, 2012. "The effect of corporate governance on sustainability disclosure," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 16(3), pages 477-509, August.
    2. Justyna Dyduch & Joanna Krasodomska, 2017. "Determinants of Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: An Empirical Study of Polish Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(11), pages 1-24, October.
    3. James D. Westphal & James W. Fredrickson, 2001. "Who directs strategic change? Director experience, the selection of new CEOs, and change in corporate strategy," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(12), pages 1113-1137, December.
    4. Leftwich, Rw & Watts, Rl & Zimmerman, Jl, 1981. "Voluntary Corporate Disclosure - The Case Of Interim Reporting," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 19, pages 50-77.
    5. Rüdiger Hahn & Regina Lülfs, 2014. "Legitimizing Negative Aspects in GRI-Oriented Sustainability Reporting: A Qualitative Analysis of Corporate Disclosure Strategies," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 123(3), pages 401-420, September.
    6. Kim, Kong-Hee & Al-Shammari, Hussam A. & Kim, Bongjin & Lee, Seung-Hyun, 2009. "CEO duality leadership and corporate diversification behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(11), pages 1173-1180, November.
    7. Zeeshan Mahmood & Rehana Kouser & Waris Ali & Zubair Ahmad & Tahira Salman, 2018. "Does Corporate Governance Affect Sustainability Disclosure? A Mixed Methods Study," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(1), pages 1-20, January.
    8. Marco Allegrini & Giulio Greco, 2013. "Corporate boards, audit committees and voluntary disclosure: evidence from Italian Listed Companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(1), pages 187-216, February.
    9. Idalene F. Kesner & Roy B. Johnson, 1990. "An investigation of the relationship between board composition and stockholder suits," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(4), pages 327-336, May.
    10. Denis Cormier & Michel Magnan & Barbara Van Velthoven, 2005. "Environmental disclosure quality in large German companies: Economic incentives, public pressures or institutional conditions?," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 14(1), pages 3-39.
    11. Brian K. Boyd, 1994. "Board control and ceo compensation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 335-344, June.
    12. Chen, Charles J. P. & Jaggi, Bikki, 2000. "Association between independent non-executive directors, family control and financial disclosures in Hong Kong," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 19(4-5), pages 285-310.
    13. 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.
    14. Mao-Chang Wang, 2017. "The Relationship between Firm Characteristics and the Disclosure of Sustainability Reporting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14, April.
    15. Lang, M & Lundholm, R, 1993. "Cross-Sectional Determinants Of Analyst Ratings Of Corporate Disclosures," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 246-271.
    16. Trotman, Ken T. & Bradley, Graham W., 1981. "Associations between social responsibility disclosure and characteristics of companies," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 6(4), pages 355-362, October.
    17. Paula L. Rechner & Dan R. Dalton, 1991. "CEO duality and organizational performance: A longitudinal analysis," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(2), pages 155-160, February.
    18. Mak, Y. T. & Roush, M. L., 2000. "Factors Affecting the Characteristics of Boards of Directors: An Empirical Study of New Zealand Initial Public Offering Firms," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 47(2), pages 147-159, February.
    19. R.M. Haniffa & T. E. Cooke, 2002. "Culture, Corporate Governance and Disclosure in Malaysian Corporations," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 38(3), pages 317-349, October.
    20. Clarkson, Peter M. & Li, Yue & Richardson, Gordon D. & Vasvari, Florin P., 2008. "Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 33(4-5), pages 303-327.
    21. Giovanna Gavana & Pietro Gottardo & Anna Maria Moisello, 2017. "The effect of equity and bond issues on sustainability disclosure. Family vs non-family Italian firms," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 13(1), pages 126-142, March.
    22. Sir Adrian Cadbury, 2000. "The Corporate Governance Agenda," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 8(1), pages 7-15, January.
    23. Samaha, Khaled & Khlif, Hichem & Hussainey, Khaled, 2015. "The impact of board and audit committee characteristics on voluntary disclosure: A meta-analysis," Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 13-28.
    24. Cho, Charles H. & Patten, Dennis M., 2007. "The role of environmental disclosures as tools of legitimacy: A research note," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 32(7-8), pages 639-647.
    25. Adams, Carol A. & Frost, Geoffrey R., 2008. "Integrating sustainability reporting into management practices," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 32(4), pages 288-302.
    26. Azlan Amran & Shiau Ping Lee & S. Susela Devi, 2014. "The Influence of Governance Structure and Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility Toward Sustainability Reporting Quality," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 23(4), pages 217-235, May.
    27. Roger L. Burritt & Stefan Schaltegger, 2010. "Sustainability accounting and reporting: fad or trend?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 23(7), pages 829-846, September.
    28. Irene M. Herremans & Jamal A. Nazari & Fereshteh Mahmoudian, 2016. "Stakeholder Relationships, Engagement, and Sustainability Reporting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 138(3), pages 417-435, October.
    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. Zeeshan Mahmood & Rehana Kouser & Md. Abdul Kaium Masud, 2019. "An emerging economy perspective on corporate sustainability reporting – main actors’ views on the current state of affairs in Pakistan," Asian Journal of Sustainability and Social Responsibility, Springer, vol. 4(1), pages 1-31, December.
    2. Emmanuel Anyigbah & Yusheng Kong & Bless Kofi Edziah & Ahotovi Thomas Ahoto & Wilhelmina Seyome Ahiaku, 2023. "Board Characteristics and Corporate Sustainability Reporting: Evidence from Chinese Listed Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-26, February.
    3. Francesca Collevecchio & Gianluca Gionfriddo, 2023. "Adopting a social purpose in for-profit firms: the role of the board of directors," International Entrepreneurship and Management Journal, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 1467-1499, September.
    4. Sumaia Ayesh Qaderi & Belal Ali Abdulraheem Ghaleb & Abdulwahid Ahmed Hashed & Sitraselvi Chandren & Zaimah Abdullah, 2022. "Board Characteristics and Integrated Reporting Strategy: Does Sustainability Committee Matter?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-24, May.
    5. Rohaida Abdul Latif & Kamarun Nisham Taufil Mohd & Hasnah Kamardin & Arifatul Husna Mohd Ariff, 2023. "Determinants of Sustainability Disclosure Quality among Plantation Companies in Malaysia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-23, February.
    6. Hamzeh Al Amosh & Saleh F. A. Khatib, 2021. "Corporate governance and voluntary disclosure of sustainability performance: the case of Jordan," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 1(12), pages 1-22, December.
    7. Sofwan Farisyi & Mochammad Al Musadieq & Hamidah Nayati Utami & Cacik Rut Damayanti, 2022. "A Systematic Literature Review: Determinants of Sustainability Reporting in Developing Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(16), pages 1-18, August.
    8. OTUYA Sunday & AKPORIEN Fidelis & OFEIMUN Godwin, 2019. "Influence of Companies’ Governance Process on Sustainability Reporting in Nigeria," International Journal of Applied Economics, Finance and Accounting, Online Academic Press, vol. 5(1), pages 31-38.
    9. Zoltán Csedő & József Magyari & Máté Zavarkó, 2022. "Dynamic Corporate Governance, Innovation, and Sustainability: Post-COVID Period," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-21, March.
    10. Awais Ur Rehman & Saqib Farid & Muhammad Abubakr Naeem, 2022. "The link between corporate governance, corporate social sustainability and credit risk of Islamic bonds," International Journal of Emerging Markets, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 18(12), pages 5990-6014, May.
    11. Saidu Musa & Nusirat Ojuolape Gold & Hope Osayantin Aifuwa, 2020. "Board Diversity and Sustainability Reporting: Evidence from Industrial Goods Firms," Business & Management Compass, University of Economics Varna, issue 4, pages 377-398.
    12. Lintang D. Sekarlangit & Ratna Wardhani, 2021. "The Effect of the Characteristics and Activities of the Board of Directors on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Disclosures: Empirical Evidence from Southeast Asia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(14), pages 1-17, July.
    13. Ovidiu-Constantin Bunget & Dorel Mateș & Alin-Constantin Dumitrescu & Oana Bogdan & Valentin Burcă, 2020. "The Link between Board Structure, Audit, and Performance for Corporate Sustainability," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(20), pages 1-27, October.
    14. Thilini Cooray & A. D. Nuwan Gunarathne & Samanthi Senaratne, 2020. "Does Corporate Governance Affect the Quality of Integrated Reporting?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-30, May.
    15. Susie Ruqun Wu & Changliang Shao & Jiquan Chen, 2018. "Approaches on the Screening Methods for Materiality in Sustainability Reporting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-16, September.

    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. Thilini Cooray & A. D. Nuwan Gunarathne & Samanthi Senaratne, 2020. "Does Corporate Governance Affect the Quality of Integrated Reporting?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(10), pages 1-30, May.
    2. Rupjyoti Saha & K. C. Kabra, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Voluntary Disclosure: A Synthesis of Empirical Studies," Business Perspectives and Research, , vol. 8(2), pages 117-138, July.
    3. Abdalla Shwairef & Azlan Amran & Mohammad Iranmanesh & Noor Hazlina Ahmad, 2021. "The mediating effect of strategic posture on corporate governance and environmental reporting," Review of Managerial Science, Springer, vol. 15(2), pages 349-378, February.
    4. Halil Emre Akbaş & Seda Canikli, 2018. "Determinants of Voluntary Greenhouse Gas Emission Disclosure: An Empirical Investigation on Turkish Firms," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-24, December.
    5. Nazim Hussain & Ugo Rigoni & René P. Orij, 2018. "Corporate Governance and Sustainability Performance: Analysis of Triple Bottom Line Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 149(2), pages 411-432, May.
    6. Bart Manning & Geert Braam & Daniel Reimsbach, 2019. "Corporate governance and sustainable business conduct—Effects of board monitoring effectiveness and stakeholder engagement on corporate sustainability performance and disclosure choices," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 26(2), pages 351-366, March.
    7. Luigi Lepore & Loris Landriani & Sabrina Pisano & Gabriella D’Amore & Stefano Pozzoli, 2023. "Corporate governance in the digital age: the role of social media and board independence in CSR disclosure. Evidence from Italian listed companies," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 27(3), pages 749-785, September.
    8. Naeem Tabassum & Satwinder Singh, 2020. "Corporate Governance and Organisational Performance," Springer Books, Springer, number 978-3-030-48527-6, December.
    9. 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.
    10. Grigoris Giannarakis & Andreas Andronikidis & Nikolaos Sariannidis, 2020. "Determinants of environmental disclosure: investigating new and conventional corporate governance characteristics," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 294(1), pages 87-105, November.
    11. Jaime Guerrero-Villegas & Leticia Pérez-Calero & José Manuel Hurtado-González & Pilar Giráldez-Puig, 2018. "Board Attributes and Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure: A Meta-Analysis," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(12), pages 1-22, December.
    12. Akbas Halil Emre, 2016. "The Relationship Between Board Characteristics and Environmental Disclosure: Evidence from Turkish Listed Companies," South East European Journal of Economics and Business, Sciendo, vol. 11(2), pages 7-19, December.
    13. Giorgio Mion & Cristian R. Loza Adaui, 2019. "Mandatory Nonfinancial Disclosure and Its Consequences on the Sustainability Reporting Quality of Italian and German Companies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(17), pages 1-28, August.
    14. Waris Ali & Zeeshan Mahmood & Jeffrey Wilson & Hina Ismail, 2024. "The impact of sustainability governance attributes on comprehensive CSR reporting: A developing country setting," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 31(3), pages 1802-1817, May.
    15. María Luisa Pajuelo Moreno & Teresa Duarte-Atoche, 2019. "Relationship between Sustainable Disclosure and Performance—An Extension of Ullmann’s Model," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(16), pages 1-33, August.
    16. Amel Ben Rhouma & Walid Ben Amar & Eustache Ebondo Wa Mandzila, 2014. "Quel Impact Des Mécanismes De Gouvernance Sur La Divulgation Des Risques Liés Au Changement Climatique ? Le Cas Des Entreprises Françaises Cotées," Post-Print hal-01899578, HAL.
    17. Simona Alfiero & Massimo Cane & Ruggiero Doronzo & Alfredo Esposito, 2018. "Determining characteristics of boards adopting Integrated Reporting," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2018(2), pages 37-71.
    18. Michelon, Giovanna & Pilonato, Silvia & Ricceri, Federica, 2015. "CSR reporting practices and the quality of disclosure: An empirical analysis," CRITICAL PERSPECTIVES ON ACCOUNTING, Elsevier, vol. 33(C), pages 59-78.
    19. Renata Konadu & Gabriel Sam Ahinful & Samuel Owusu-Agyei, 2021. "Corporate governance pillars and business sustainability: does stakeholder engagement matter?," International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 18(3), pages 269-289, September.
    20. Gary Peters & Andrea Romi, 2014. "Does the Voluntary Adoption of Corporate Governance Mechanisms Improve Environmental Risk Disclosures? Evidence from Greenhouse Gas Emission Accounting," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 125(4), pages 637-666, December.

    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:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:7:p:2578-:d:159526. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.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.