The influence of board characteristics on sustainability reporting Empirical evidence from Sri Lankan firms

Mohamed M. Shamil, Junaid M. Shaikh, Poh Ling Ho, Anbalagan Krishnan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

132 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Purpose -Drawing on agency theory and legitimacy theory perspectives, the purpose of this paper is to investigate the influence of board characteristics on sustainability reporting of listed companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE), Sri Lanka. Design/methodology/approach - A sample of 148 listed companies was drawn from the CSE using stratified random sampling method and data were collected from the 2012 annual reports. The proposed hypotheses were tested using a hierarchical binary logistic regression. Findings - This study documents that board size and dual leadership are positively associated with sustainability reporting and boards with female directors are negatively associated with sustainability reporting. This study also found that sustainability reporting is likely to be influenced by firm size and firm growth. Additionally, the study also reveals that younger firms are likely to adopt sustainability reporting. Originality/value - This is the first study to examine the influence of board characteristics on sustainability reporting in Sri Lanka, considered as a developing economy with an emerging equity market.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)78-97
Number of pages20
JournalAsian Review of Accounting
Volume22
Issue number2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2014
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Agency theory
  • Board characteristics
  • Corporate governance
  • Legitimacy theory
  • Logistic regression
  • Sustainability reporting

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