The influence of board characteristics on sustainability reporting. Issue 2 (2014)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Mohamed M. Shamil; Junaid M. Shaikh; Poh‐Ling Ho; Anbalagan Krishnan
• Is Part Of: Asian review of accounting. Volume 22:Issue 2(2014)
• Page Start: 78
• Page End: 97
• Publication Date: 2014
• Subjects: Accounting -- Asia -- Periodicals; Accounting -- Pacific Area -- Periodicals; Accounting -- Periodicals; 657.095
• DOI: 10.1108/ARA-09-2013-0060
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1321-7348

Abstract

<abstract> <title> <x xml:space="preserve"> Abstract </x> </title> <p> <bold>Purpose</bold> – 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. <bold>Design/methodology/approach</bold> – 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. <bold>Findings</bold> – 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. <bold>Originality/value</bold> – 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.</p> <ack> <title> <x xml:space="preserve"> Acknowledgements </x> </title> <p> <bold>JEL Classifications —</bold> M41, M14</p> <p>Higher Education for Twentieth Century (HETC) Project, Ministry of Higher Education, Sri Lanka.</p> </ack> </abstract>