Corporate Governance and Environmental Disclosures:Evidence from Polluted Companies in India
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.33516/rb.v42i3.38-49pKeywords:
Environmental Disclosures, Corporate Governance Aributes, Content Analysis, Global Reporting Initiative and Business Responsibility Reports.Abstract
The present paper empirically investigates the impact of corporate governance aributes on environmental disclosure in India. Environmental disclosures scores are measured by list of items based on Global Reporting Initiative guidelines as well as environmental regulations prevailing in India. The study examines annual reports of 130 polluting companies in India for a period of 6 years i.e. from 2009-10 to 2014-15 and found that there is an increase in disclosure but it is limited. Further, the panel data regression result indicates that less independent directors in the audit commiee, presence of woman director in the board, CEO duality and larger size firm have an impact on the company's decision to disclose environmental information. For beer environmental disclosure, SEBI should mandate all the companies to disclose detailed monetary and non-monetary information on environmental issues in their periodic report and also more emphasis should be given to strengthen corporate governance towards environmental issues.Downloads
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
References
Ahmad, N. N., & Mohamad, N. A. (2014). Environmental disclosures by the Malaysian construction sector: Exploring extent and quality. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 21, 240-252.
Andrikopoulos, A., & Kriklani, N. (2013). Environmental disclosure and financial characteristics of the firm: The case of Denmark. Corporate Social Resonsibility and Environmental Management , 20, 55-64.
Arussi, A. S., Selamat, M. H., & Hanefah, M. M. (2009). Determinants of financial and environmental disclosures through the internet by Malaysian companies. Asian Review of Accounting, 17 (1), 59-76.
Barako, D. G., Hancock, P., & Izan, H. Y. (2006). Factors influencing voluntary corporate disclosure by Kenyan companies . Corporate Governance: An International Review , 14, 107-125.
Brammer, S., & Pavelin, S. (2008). Factors influencing the quality of corporate environmental disclosure. Business Strategy and the Environment , 17, 120-136.
Buniamin, S., Alrazi, B., Johari, N. H., & Rahman, N. R. (2008). An investigation of the association between corporate governance and environmental reporting in Malaysia. Asian Journal of Business and Accounting , 1 (2), 65-88.
Carter, D. A., Simkins, B. J., & Simpson, W. G. (2003). Corporate governance, board diversity, and firm value. The Financial Review, 38, 33-53.
Chaklader, B., & Gulati, P. A. (2015). A study of corporate environmental disclosure practices of companies doing business in India. Global Business Review , 16 (2), 321335.
Chaerjee, B., & Mir, M. Z. (2008). The current status of environmental reporting by Indian companies. Managerial Auditing Journal, 23 (6), 609-629.
Chau, G., & Gray, S. J. (2010). Family ownership, board independence and voluntary disclosure: Evidence from Hong kong. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation , 19, 93-109.
Chen, C. J., & Jaggi, B. (2000). Association between independent non-executive directors, family control and financial disclosures in Hong Kong. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy , 19, 285-310.
Cheng, S. (2008). Board size and the variability of corporate performance. Journal of Financial Economics , 87, 157¡V176.
Clarkson, P. M., Li, Y., Richardson, G. D., & Vasvari, F. P. (2008). Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis. Accounting, Organisation and society, 33, 303327
Cormier, D., & Gordon, I. M. (2001). An examination of social and environmental reporting strategies. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 14 (5), 587-616.
D'Amico, E., Coluccia, D., Fontana, S., & Solimene, S. (2016). Factors influencing corporate environmental disclosure. Business Strategy and the Environment , 25, 178-192.
Donnelly, R., & Mulcahy, M. (2008). Board structure, ownership, and voluntary disclosure in Ireland. Corporate Governance , 16, 416-429.
Dragomir, V. D. (2010). Environmentally sensitive disclosures and financial performance in a European seing. Journal of Accounting & Organizational Change , 6 (3), 359-388.
Eng, L., & Mak, Y. (2003). Corporate governance and voluntary disclosure. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy , 22, 325-345.
Fama, E. F., & Jensen, M. (1983). Separation of ownership and control. Journal of Law and Economics , 26, 301-326.
Forker, J. R. (1992). Corporate governance and disclosure quality. Accounting and Business Research, 22 (86), 111124.
Guest, P. M. (2009). The impact of board size on firm performance: Evidence from the UK. The European Journal of Finance , 15 (4), 385¡V404.
Gul, F. A., & Leung, S. (2004). Board leadership, outside directors¡¦ expertise and voluntary corporate disclosures. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy , 23, 351¡V379.
Hackston, D., & Milne, M. J. (1996). Some determinants of social and environmental disclosures in New Zealand companies. Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, 9 (1), 77-108.
Halme, M., & Huse, M. (1997). The influence of corporate governance, industry and country factors on environmental reporting. Scandinavian Journal of Management , 13 (2), 137-157.
Ho, S. S., & Wong, K. S. (2001). A study of the relationship between corporate governance structures and the extent of voluntary disclosure. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation , 10, 139-156.
Ingram, R. W., & Frazier, K. B. (1980). Environmental performance and corporate disclosure. Journal of Accounting Research, 18 (2), 614-622.
Joshi, P. L., Suwaidan, M. S., & Kumar, R. (2011). Determinants of environmental disclosures by Indian industrial listed companies in their websites: Empirical study. International Journal of Accounting and Finance, 3 (2), 109-130.
Kassinis, G., & Vafeas, N. (2002). Corporate boards and outside stakeholders as determinants of environmental litigation. Strategic Management Journal , 23, 399-415.
Kelton, A. S., & Yang, Y.-w. (2008). The impact of corporate governance on Internet financial reporting. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy , 27, 62-87.
Klein, A. (2002). Audit commiee, board of director characteristics, and earnings management. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 33, 375-400.
Lipton, M., & Lorsch., J.W. (1992). A modest proposal for improved corporate governance. The Business Lawyer , 48, 59¡V78.
Lucas, M. T., & Noordewier, T. G. (2016). Environmental management practices and firm financial performance: The moderating effect of industry pollution-related factors. International Journal of Production Economics, 175, 24-34.
Malarvizhi, P., & Yadav, S. (2009). Corporate environmental disclosures on the internet: An emprical analysis of Indian companies. Issues in Social and Environmental Accounting, 2 (2), 211-232.
Nor, N. M., Bahari, N. A., Adnan, N. A., Kamal, S. M., & Alia, I. M. (2016). The effects of environmental disclosure on financial performance in malaysia. Procedia Economics and Finance, 35, 117-126.
Nurhayati, R., Taylor, G., & Tower, G. (2015). Investigating social and environmental disclosure practices by listed Indian textile firms. Proceedings of the Australasian Conference on Business and Social Sciences (pp. 201212). Sydney: The Journal of Developing Areas.
Ortas, E., Gallego-Alvarez, I., & Etxeberria, I. A. (2014). Financial factors influencing the quality of corporate social resoponsibility and environmental management disclosure: A quantile regression approach. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management .
Pahuja, S. (2009). Relationship between environmental disclosures and corporate characteristics: A study of large manufacturing companies in India. Social Responsibility journal, 5 (2), 227-244.
Rao, K. K., Tilt, C. A., & Lester, L. H. (2012). Corporate governance and environmental reporting: An Australian study. Corporate Governance , 12 (2), 143-163.
Roberts, C. B. (1991). Environmental disclosures: A note on reporting practices in Mainland Europe. Accounting Auditing & Accountability Journal, 4 (3), 62-71.
Rodriguez-Fernandez, M. (2016). Social responsibility and financial performance: The role of good corporate governance. Business Research Quarterly, 19, 137-151.
Sahay, A. (2004). Environmental reporting by Indian corporations. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 11, 12-22.
Samaha, K., Hichem, K., & Khaled, H. (2015). The impact of board and audit commiee characteristics on voluntary disclosure: A meta-analysis. Journal of International Accounting, Auditing and Taxation , 24, 13-28.
Sen, M., Mukherjee, K., & Paanayak, J. K. (2011). Corporate environmental disclosure practices in India. Journal of Applied Accounting Research, 12 (2), 139-156.
Smith, M., Yahya, K., & Amiruddin, A. M. (2007). Environmental disclosure and performance reporting in Malaysia. Asian Review of Accounting, 15 (2), 185-199.
Suttipun, M., & Stanton, P. (2012). Determinants of environmental disclosure in Thai corporate annual reports. International Journal of Accounting and Financial Reporting, 2 (1), 99-115.
Villiers, C. d., Naiker, V., & Staden, C. J. (2011). The effect of board characteristics on firm environmental performance. Journal of Management , 37 (6), 1636-1663.
Walden, W. D., & Schwartz, B. N. (1997). Environmental disclosures and public policy pressure. Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 16, 125-154.
Walls, J. L., Berrone, P., & Phan, P. H. (2012). Corporate governance and environmental performance: Is there really a link? Strategic Management Journal , 33, 885-913.
White, H. (1980). A Heteroskedasticity-Consistent Covariance Matrix Estimator and a Direct Test for Heteroskedasticity. Econometrica , 48 (4), 817-838.
Wiseman, J. W. (1982). An evaluation of environmental disclosures made in corporate annual reports. Accounting, Organisation & Society, 7 (1), 53-63.