The impact of corporate environmental disclosure practices and board attributes on sustainability: Empirical evidence from Asia and Europe

Abstract

This study analyzes the impact of environmental disclosure, board attributes, and firms' specifics on the levels of environmental and ESG performance in Europe and Asia. The study utilizes secondary data from Refinitiv Eikon database for 8094 firms for the period between 2016 and 2021. The study employs panel data analysis using fixed effect models to estimate the results. The findings suggest that disclosure on emissions, innovations, environmental controversies, environmentally friendly products, proactive environmental investments, environmental expenses, and fines charged by authorities have a positive and significant influence on the level of firms’ environmental and ESG performance. Furthermore, the study identifies board tenure, independence, size, and meetings as being associated with greater levels of environmental disclosures, reporting, and sustainability score. However, board diversity is found to have a limited contribution to environmental disclosures, especially in Asian countries. Additionally, the results reveal that companies with higher revenue growth, larger size and market capitalization, and better performance have greater and better disclosure of environmental and sustainability issues. The study provides practical implications for policymakers to establish comprehensive guidelines for environmental and sustainability reporting based on the analysis of institutional, regulatory frameworks, legislation, and sustainability score enforcement status of the country.