Green governance and sustainability reporting in Kazakhstan's oil, gas, and mining sector: Evidence from a former USSR emerging economy

Abstract

Based on essence of the stakeholder and resource dependence theories, this study examines relationships between corporate board characteristics and sustainability reporting (SR) in oil, gas and mining companies in Kazakhstan. All data on board characteristics and SR were collected manually from annual reports, investment memorandums, sustainability reports, and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports, while financial data were extracted from financial statements of the companies. The results show that board characteristics such as board size and gender diversity are the most important factors in determining the scope and quality of sustainability information. The findings of the study will be useful for investors, policy makers, regulators and practitioners, as they suggest that effective board characteristics could improve corporate governance (CG) practices, which, in turn, could lead to more transparent and better corporate reporting practices in emerging economies generally and the 15 former USSR countries specifically.