Dung Tan Huynh

Type of the article: Research Article

Sustainability reporting is a vital tool for providing stakeholders with transparent and comprehensive information about a company’s economic, environmental, and social performance. The quality of this reporting is paramount, as it enables stakeholders to make informed decisions and assess an organization’s long-term sustainability. This study aims to investigate the connection between corporate governance, a mechanism that promotes a culture of ethical and comprehensive reporting, and sustainability reporting quality. The research also examines the moderating role of the audit committee in enhancing the effect of corporate governance on the quality of sustainability reporting. With a research sample of 162 listed companies on the Vietnamese stock exchange within the research period from 2018 to 2023, the study employs a quantitative method, using feasible generalized least squares for data analysis. The results show significant positive influences of board size, board independence, board expertise, and board meetings on firm sustainability reporting quality. The role of the audit committee in strengthening the relationship between board independence and the quality of sustainability reporting is also confirmed. These outcomes provide valuable insights into how the board of directors should be structured to enhance the quality of sustainability performance reporting, leading to better informed decision-making for firms’ stakeholders.

Type of the article: Research Article

In the evolving landscape of ASEAN capital markets, environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure is increasingly recognized as a strategic driver of corporate value, with competitive advantage determining the extent to which its benefits are realized. This study aims to examine how competitive advantage moderates the relationship between ESG disclosure and firm value in the ASEAN emergent context. The study applies panel data comprising 2,801 observations from 726 listed companies in ASEAN during 2015-2023. Regression analysis was conducted using the two-step System Generalized Method of Moments, accompanied by a series of robustness tests. The findings emphasize ESG reporting benefits, as ESG disclosure positively influences all firm value proxies in baseline models (β_{ESG_Tobin’sQ} = 0.0034, p-value < 0.05; β_{ESG_LogMC} = 0.0040, p-value < 0.01; β_{ESG_PB} = 0.0047, p-value < 0.05). The interaction between ESG disclosure and competitive advantage is also positive and significant across the three measures (β_{ESGxCA_Tobin’sQ} = 0.0545, p-value < 0.05; β_{ESGxCA_LogMC} = 0.0254, p-value < 0.01; β_{ESGxCA_PB} = 0.0678, p-value < 0.01). These results suggest that the valuation implications of ESG disclosure are contingent on firms’ competitive advantage, with the estimated marginal effect generally increasing as competitive advantage improves. Accordingly, the study enriches the literature by resonating with the intersection between stakeholder theory and the resource-based view (RBV), demonstrating how competitive advantage conditions the link between ESG disclosure and firm value in ASEAN capital markets. The study suggests that managers should align financial objectives with stakeholder expectations and integrate ESG disclosure into broader corporate strategies to enhance valuation purposes.