IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v9y2017i4p624-d96029.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The Relationship between Firm Characteristics and the Disclosure of Sustainability Reporting

Author

Listed:
  • Mao-Chang Wang

    (Department of Accounting, Chinese Culture University, 55, Hwa-Kang Road, Taipei 11114, Taiwan)

Abstract

Stakeholder theory is a major approach to research on sustainability management. Firm characteristics, including corporate governance and business characteristics, can be represented in terms of their effects on stakeholders. In this study, a multi-regression model is used to examine the relationship between firm characteristics and the disclosure of sustainability reporting for the Taiwan 50 Index-listed companies. Least-squares regression, panel data regression, and logistic regression analyses are applied. The results show that seven corporate governance and business characteristics, namely the size of the board of directors, ratio of independent directors, audit committee, ratio of export income, percentage of foreign shareholders’ holdings, fixed asset staleness, and firm growth are positively related to the disclosure of sustainability reporting, whereas the percentage of director holdings and stock price per share are negatively related to the disclosure of sustainability reporting. This study supports the notion that stakeholder involvement is related to the disclosure of sustainability reporting.

Suggested Citation

  • Mao-Chang Wang, 2017. "The Relationship between Firm Characteristics and the Disclosure of Sustainability Reporting," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(4), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:9:y:2017:i:4:p:624-:d:96029
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/4/624/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/9/4/624/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cho, Charles H. & Roberts, Robin W. & Patten, Dennis M., 2010. "The language of US corporate environmental disclosure," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 431-443, May.
    2. Hoje Jo & Maretno Harjoto, 2011. "Corporate Governance and Firm Value: The Impact of Corporate Social Responsibility," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 103(3), pages 351-383, October.
    3. Luca Gnan & Alessandro Hinna & Fabio Monteduro & Danila Scarozza, 2013. "Corporate governance and management practices: stakeholder involvement, quality and sustainability tools adoption," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 17(4), pages 907-937, November.
    4. Eng, L. L. & Mak, Y. T., 2003. "Corporate governance and voluntary disclosure," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 325-345.
    5. 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.
    6. Rafael La Porta & Florencio Lopez‐De‐Silanes & Andrei Shleifer & Robert Vishny, 2002. "Investor Protection and Corporate Valuation," Journal of Finance, American Finance Association, vol. 57(3), pages 1147-1170, June.
    7. Irene Karamanou & Nikos Vafeas, 2005. "The Association between Corporate Boards, Audit Committees, and Management Earnings Forecasts: An Empirical Analysis," Journal of Accounting Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(3), pages 453-486, June.
    8. Becchetti, Leonardo & Ciciretti, Rocco & Hasan, Iftekhar & Kobeissi, Nada, 2012. "Corporate social responsibility and shareholder's value," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(11), pages 1628-1635.
    9. Barkemeyer, Ralf & Comyns, Breeda & Figge, Frank & Napolitano, Giulio, 2014. "CEO statements in sustainability reports: Substantive information or background noise?," Accounting forum, Elsevier, vol. 38(4), pages 241-257.
    10. Paul M. Healy & Amy P. Hutton & Krishna G. Palepu, 1999. "Stock Performance and Intermediation Changes Surrounding Sustained Increases in Disclosure," Contemporary Accounting Research, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 16(3), pages 485-520, September.
    11. Al-Tuwaijri, Sulaiman A. & Christensen, Theodore E. & Hughes, K. II, 2004. "The relations among environmental disclosure, environmental performance, and economic performance: a simultaneous equations approach," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 29(5-6), pages 447-471.
    12. Core, John E. & Holthausen, Robert W. & Larcker, David F., 1999. "Corporate governance, chief executive officer compensation, and firm performance," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(3), pages 371-406, March.
    13. Miguel Angel Jaimes-Valdez & Carlos Armando Jacobo-Hernandez, 2016. "Sustainability and Corporate Governance: Theoretical Development and Perspectives," Journal of Management and Sustainability, Canadian Center of Science and Education, vol. 6(3), pages 44-56, September.
    14. John Simmons, 2008. "Ethics and morality in human resource management," Social Responsibility Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 4(1/2), pages 8-23, March.
    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. Adelaide Martins & Delfina Gomes & Manuel Castelo Branco, 2020. "Managing Corporate Social and Environmental Disclosure: An Accountability vs. Impression Management Framework," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(1), pages 1-15, December.
    2. Anna Jessop & Nicole Wilson & Michal Bardecki & Cory Searcy, 2019. "Corporate Environmental Disclosure in India: An Analysis of Multinational and Domestic Agrochemical Corporations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(18), pages 1-33, September.
    3. Rasa Kanapickiene & Greta Keliuotyte-Staniuleniene & Deimante Teresiene, 2021. "Disclosure of Non-Current Tangible Assets Information in Private Sector Entities Financial Statements: The Case of Lithuania," Economies, MDPI, vol. 9(2), pages 1-64, May.
    4. 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.
    5. Sujatha Ravinarayana Bhat & Mohd Asrul Affendi Abdullah, 2023. "Factors Influencing Sustainability Reporting Practices among Listed Companies in Oman," International Journal of Economics and Financial Issues, Econjournals, vol. 13(3), pages 74-83, May.
    6. 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.
    7. Liliana Hawrysz & Jolanta Maj, 2017. "Identification of Stakeholders of Public Interest Organisations," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-13, September.
    8. Davide Galli & Federica Bassanini, 2020. "Reporting Sustainability in China: Evidence from the Global Powers of Luxury Goods," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-18, May.
    9. 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.
    10. 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.
    11. Rudolf Kampf & Silvia Lorincová & Miloš Hitka & Ondrej Stopka, 2017. "Generational Differences in the Perception of Corporate Culture in European Transport Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-14, September.
    12. Lawrence Loh & Sharmine Tan, 2020. "Impact of Sustainability Reporting on Brand Value: An Examination of 100 Leading Brands in Singapore," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(18), pages 1-17, September.
    13. Malik, Arsalan Haneef & Rehman, Awais Ur & Khan, Mubashir Ali, 2020. "Disclosures relating to Covid-19 in the Malaysian banking industry: Theory and Practice," MPRA Paper 109224, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. 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.
    15. Ali Meftah Gerged, 2021. "Factors affecting corporate environmental disclosure in emerging markets: The role of corporate governance structures," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 609-629, January.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. Luminita Enache & Antonio Parbonetti & Anup Srivastava, 2020. "Are all outside directors created equal with respect to firm disclosure policy?," Review of Quantitative Finance and Accounting, Springer, vol. 55(2), pages 541-577, August.
    4. Steven F. Cahan & Charl De Villiers & Debra C. Jeter & Vic Naiker & Chris J. Van Staden, 2016. "Are CSR Disclosures Value Relevant? Cross-Country Evidence," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 25(3), pages 579-611, September.
    5. Balachandran, Balasingham & Faff, Robert, 2015. "Corporate governance, firm value and risk: Past, present, and future," Pacific-Basin Finance Journal, Elsevier, vol. 35(PA), pages 1-12.
    6. S. Price & Jesus Salas & C. Sirmans, 2015. "Governance, Conference Calls and CEO Compensation," The Journal of Real Estate Finance and Economics, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 181-206, February.
    7. 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.
    8. Vera Lucia M. Cunha & M. Dinis Mendes, 2017. "Financial Determinants of Corporate Governance Disclosure: Portuguese Evidence," Athens Journal of Business & Economics, Athens Institute for Education and Research (ATINER), vol. 3(1), pages 21-36, January.
    9. Leung, Sidney & Parker, Lee & Courtis, John, 2015. "Impression management through minimal narrative disclosure in annual reports," The British Accounting Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(3), pages 275-289.
    10. Christof Beuselinck & Marc Deloof & Sophie Manigart, 2008. "Private Equity Investments and Disclosure Policy," European Accounting Review, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 17(4), pages 607-639.
    11. Denis Cormier & Marie-Josée Ledoux & Michel Magnan, 2010. "The Informational Contribution of Social and Environmental Disclosures for Investors," Post-Print hal-00481571, HAL.
    12. Oxelheim, Lars, 2019. "Optimal vs satisfactory transparency: The impact of global macroeconomic fluctuations on corporate competitiveness," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 28(1), pages 190-206.
    13. Mohammed Abdullah Ammer & Meqbel Mishary Aliedan & Mansour Abdullah Alyahya, 2020. "Do Corporate Environmental Sustainability Practices Influence Firm Value? The Role of Independent Directors: Evidence from Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-21, November.
    14. Wang, Kun Tracy & Kartika, Fiki & Wang, Wanbin Walter & Luo, Guqiang, 2021. "Corporate social responsibility, investor protection, and the cost of equity: Evidence from East Asia," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 47(C).
    15. Lutfa Tilat Ferdous & Kamran Ahmed & Darren Henry, 2023. "An Empirical Investigation of the Effect of CFO Power on Disclosure Quality," Abacus, Accounting Foundation, University of Sydney, vol. 59(2), pages 606-649, June.
    16. Saverio Bozzolan & Giovanna Michelon & Marco Mattei & Andrea Giornetti, 2019. "Signing the letter to shareholders: Does the Signatory?s role relate to impression management?," FINANCIAL REPORTING, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2019(1), pages 37-82.
    17. X. Meng & S. Zeng & C. Tam, 2013. "From Voluntarism to Regulation: A Study on Ownership, Economic Performance and Corporate Environmental Information Disclosure in China," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 116(1), pages 217-232, August.
    18. Guillamon-Saorin, Encarna & Sousa, Carlos M.P., 2010. "Press release disclosures in Spain and the UK," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 19(1), pages 1-15, February.
    19. José V. Frias‐Aceituno & Lazaro Rodriguez‐Ariza & I.M Garcia‐Sanchez, 2013. "The Role of the Board in the Dissemination of Integrated Corporate Social Reporting," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 20(4), pages 219-233, July.
    20. Walid Ben‐Amar & Philip McIlkenny, 2015. "Board Effectiveness and the Voluntary Disclosure of Climate Change Information," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(8), pages 704-719, 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:9:y:2017:i:4:p:624-:d:96029. 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.