Ownership structure and sustainability reporting: Emerging economies evidence

Nuhu, Yusuf; Alam, Md Ashraful

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to empirically examine the impact of ownership structure variables on the level of sustainability reporting of listed BRICS energy firms as well as the moderating role of board sustainability committee on this relationship.
Design/methodology/approach: The study utilised a sample of 1260 firm-year observations from BRICS for the period 2010 to 2019. The study utilizes Bloomberg database, companies’ annual reports, and companies’ websites for data collection and the OLS and IV 2SLS regressions for data analysis.
Findings: The study provide empirical evidence that foreign ownership, managerial ownership, and block holder ownership have positive and statistically significant impact on the level of sustainability reporting. However, the results indicate institutional ownership impact sustainability reporting negatively. The findings remain qualitatively the same after addressing endogeneity concerns using IV 2SLS regression method.
Research limitations: This paper has some limitations. The study focuses on listed companies in BRICS. Therefore, future studies should look at non-listed small and medium enterprises. Similarly, the study focuses on emerging economies, future studies should consider comparative studies between developed and developing economies.
Originality/value: The study contributes to the corporate governance and sustainability literature and extends existing empirical literature on the role of ownership structure on the level of sustainability reporting in emerging economies context. The study provides important theoretical and empirical evidence to the regulators and policy makers.
Practical implication: The study makes significant empirical, theoretical, and regulatory contributions to policy makers, investors and management on the ownership type that positively influence the level of sustainability reporting.

Citation

Nuhu, Y., & Alam, M. A. (in press). Ownership structure and sustainability reporting: Emerging economies evidence. International Journal of Accounting and Information Management,

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Jul 12, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jul 15, 2024
• Print ISSN: 1834-7649
• Publisher: Emerald
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed