The impact of audit committee features on environmental and community disclosure – empirical evidence from GCC countries
-
DOIhttp://dx.doi.org/10.21511/imfi.22(1).2025.07
-
Article InfoVolume 22 2025, Issue #1, pp. 82-93
- 12 Views
-
3 Downloads
This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
This study examines the extent of environmental and community disclosures and evaluates how audit committee features influence such disclosures among listed firms in Bahrain and Kuwait, Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of emerging markets. The research employs an unweighted disclosure index comprising 18 items related to environmental and community disclosures, analyzing 432 firm-year observations across Bahrain and Kuwait covering a nine-year period (2015–2023). Three audit committee features (independence, number of meetings, and size) along with the number of other board committees are examined in this empirical investigation. Descriptive analysis indicates that the sampled firms offer 44.25% and 60.60% of environmental and community information, respectively, signaling a satisfactory disclosure level in Bahrain and Kuwait. This demonstrates progress compared to prior studies in GCC countries. Hierarchical Multiple Regression models demonstrate that all four models significantly describe the dependent variables. Regression model four exhibits the highest explanatory power in explaining community information. Audit committee independence and size emerge as determinants of community information, while only audit committee independence is associated with environmental information. The results of this study bear significant implications for governmental bodies and regulatory authorities aiming to strengthen disclosure regulations and promote corporate governance frameworks within GCC nations.
- Keywords
-
JEL Classification (Paper profile tab)M41, Q56, M42
-
References32
-
Tables7
-
Figures0
-
- Table 1. Firms included in the current empirical investigation
- Table 2. Dependent variable
- Table 3. Independent and control variables
- Table 4. Descriptive results
- Table 5. Correlation results
- Table 6. Regression results (Models 1 and 2, TOTGR1)
- Table 7. Regression results (Models 3 and 4, TOTGR2)
-
- Abu Afifa, M., Saleh, I., Al-Zaghilat, M., Thuneibat, N., & Nguyen, N. (2023). Does CSR disclosure mediate the board characteristics-cost of equity capital nexus? Evidence from Jordanian services companies. Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print).
- Akbas, H. (2016). The relationship between board characteristics and environmental disclosure: Evidence from Turkish listed companies. South-East European Journal of Economics and Business, 11(2), 7-19.
- Alotaibi, K., & Hussainey, K. (2016). Determinants of CSR disclosure quantity and quality: Evidence from non-financial listed firms in Saudi Arabia. International Journal of Disclosure and Governance, 13(4), 364-393.
- Al-Ajmi, M., Al-Mutairi, A., & Al-Duwaila N. (2015). Corporate social disclosure practice in Kuwait. International Journal of Economics and Finance, 7(9), 244-254.
- Al Amosh, H., & Mansor, N. (2018). Sustainability and corporate reporting: A review on environmental and social accounting disclosure. International Journal of Accounting, Finance and Business, 3(8), 78-87.
- Amran, N., & Ahmad, A. (2010). Corporate governance mechanisms and performance: Analysis of Malaysian family and non-family-controlled companies. Journal of Modern Accounting and Auditing, 6(2), 1548-6583.
- Arrigo, E., Di Vaio, A., Hassan, R., & Palladino, R. (2022). Followership behavior and corporate social responsibility disclosure: Analysis and implications for sustainability research. Journal of Cleaner Production, 360, 132151.
- Bahrain Bourse – BHB. (2023). Yearly trading bulletin, Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain.
- Bebbington, J., Larrinaga-González, C., & Moneva-Abadía, J. (2008). Corporate social reporting and reputation risk management. Accounting, Auditing and Accountability Journal, 21(3), 337-361.
- Bedard, J., & Gendron, Y. (2010). Strengthening the financial reporting system: can audit committees deliver? International Journal of Auditing, 14(2), 174-210.
- Buallay, A., & Al-Dhaen E. (2018). The relationship between audit committee characteristics and the level of sustainability report disclosure (pp. 492-503). International Federation for Information Processing, Springer, Switzerland.
- Budiharta, P., & Br Kacaribu, H. (2020). The influence of board of directors, managerial ownership, and audit committee on carbon emission disclosure: A study of non-financial companies listed on BEI. Review of Integrative Business and Economics Research, 9(3), 75-87.
- Bursa Kuwait – BK. (2023). Annual Report.
- Chariri, A., Januarti, I., & Yuyetta, E. (2017). Firm characteristics, audit committee, and environmental performance: Insights from Indonesian companies. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, 7(6), 19-26.
- Desoky, A. (2009). Company characteristics as determinants of Internet financial reporting in emerging markets – The case of Egypt”. In Tsamenyi, M. & Uddin, S. (Eds.), Research in Accounting in Emerging Economies (Vol. 9) (pp. 35-76). Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Bingley, UK.
- Desoky, A. M. (2024). The influence of board and audit committee characteristics on CSR reporting in Bahrain: the legitimacy perspective. Journal of Financial Reporting and Accounting, ahead-of-print(ahead-of-print).
- Freeman, R. (2010). Strategic Management: A Stakeholder Approach. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Habbash, M. (2016). Corporate governance and corporate social responsibility disclosure: Evidence from Saudi Arabia. Social Responsibility Journal, 12(4), 740-754.
- Haniffa, R., & T. Cooke (2002). Culture, corporate governance and disclosure in Malaysian corporations. ABACUS, 38(3), 317-349.
- Harun, M., Hussainey, K., Kharuddin, K., & AlFarooque, M. (2020). CSR disclosure, corporate governance and firm value: A study on GCC Islamic Banks. International Journal of Accounting and Information Management, 28(4), 607-638.
- Jensen, M. C., & Meckling, W. H. (1976). Theory of the firm: Managerial behavior, agency costs and ownership structure. Journal of Financial Economics, 3(4), 305-360.
- Khasharmeh, H., & Desoky, A. (2013). Online corporate social responsibility disclosures: The case of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. Global Review of Accounting and Finance, 4(2), 39-64.
- KPMG. (2006). International Audit Committee Institute, Five guiding principles for ACs. Geneva: KPMG International.
- Madi, H., Ishak, Z., & Manaf, N. (2014). The impact of audit committee characteristics on corporate voluntary disclosure. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 11(164), 486-492.
- Ministry of Industry, Commerce and Tourism – MICT. (2018). Corporate Governance Code, Kingdom of Bahrain.
- Mousa, G., Desoky, A., & Khan, G. (2018). The Association between Corporate Governance and Corporate Social Responsibility Disclosure – Evidence from Gulf Cooperation Council Countries. Academy of Accounting and Financial Studies Journal, 22(4), 1-19.
- Ndinda M. Namusonge, G., & Kihoro, J. (2015). An Investigation into the Extent of Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting; Survey of Companies Listed in Nairobi Securities Exchange in Kenya. The International Journal of Business & Management, 3(8), 64-81.
- Orazalin, N. (2020). Do board sustainability committees contribute to corporate environmental and social performance? The mediating role of corporate social responsibility strategy. Business Strategy and the Environment, 29(1), 140-153.
- Othman, R., Ishak, I., Mohd Arif, S., & Abdul Aris, N. (2014). Influence of audit committee characteristics on voluntary ethics disclosure. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 14(145), 330-342.
- Salem, W., & Zouari, S. (2016). The impact of nomination committee characteristics on corporate social responsibility: Evidence from France. Journal of Business Research, 69(9), 3651-3659.
- Spira, L. (1999). Independence in corporate governance: The audit committee role. Business Ethics: A European Review, 8(4), 262-273.
- Yekini, K., Adelopo, I., Andrikopoulos, P., & Yekini, S. (2015). Impact of board independence on the quality of community disclosures in annual reports. Accounting Forum, 39(4), 249-267.