Purpose: This study is guided by the upper echelon theory and argues that the role of females on boards of directors may differ between cultures. In a culture where the community has a significant humane orientation, female directors may pay much more attention to the social issues of corporate sustainability rather than environmental issues. Therefore, this study aims to differentiate between the social and environmental performances of companies to examine whether the presence of females on the boards of directors of Malaysian firms could affect social and environmental performances differently.Design/methodology/approach: This study uses a sample of firms listed in Bursa Malaysia and develops two disclosure indices to measure social and environmental performances. Three proxies of female directors are used in the empirical models. The ordinary least square model is used to test the hypothesis.Findings: The empirical results suggest a positive association between social performance and the presence of female directors on the board of directors of Malaysian firms. However, no association was found between environmental performance and the presence of female directors on those boards. These results confirm the prediction of this study that the female directors of Malaysian firms pay more attention to social issues than to environmental ones.Originality/value: This is the first study to examine the effects of the presence of female directors on Malaysian firms’ boards of directors on social and environmental performance. It also contributes to the upper echelon theory by illuminating the importance of gender diversity in influencing the social and environmental behaviors of corporate leaders. The results provide the important implication that the association between a firm’s social and environmental performance and gender diversity depends on the culture within which the company operates.

Purpose: This paper aims to examine the moderating effect of government ownership (GO) on the association between corporate governance (CG) and voluntary disclosure (VD).Design/methodology/approach: This study used multivariate analysis to examine the moderating variable.Findings: GO has a moderating negative effect on the association between CG factors [e.g. board size, non-executive directors (NEDs)] and VD, which indicates that GO plays a negative role in the effectiveness of CG. The study also found that audit quality is not affected by the influence of GO, indicating that companies without GO are better than companies with GO in terms of applying the best practices of CG to provide sufficient and high-quality disclosure.Originality/value: This study has important implications for governments to be more effective in implementing the best practices of CG. Additionally, the findings could have implications for authority regulators, policy makers and shareholders to require effective implications for CG to reduce the effects of GO the implementation of best CG practices and the disclosure of quality information.

This paper applies a meta-analysis method to investigate the moderating impact of political stability on the relationship between ownership identities and firm performance in the Middle Eastern countries (i.e., the Arab World). The study collected 105 correlations from 46 previous studies with 11,999 observations in 11 Middle Eastern countries. The findings show that most ownership identities such as institutional ownership, government ownership, inside ownership, and family ownership have positive relationship with firm performance. Another interesting finding shows that in countries with political instability, the level of ownership identities such as institutional ownership, foreign ownership, and inside ownership play an important role in controlling companies, which leads to firm performance. The meta-analysis results reveal that different levels of political stability have an impact on the role of the majority shareholders. The findings provide evidence that the performance of ownership identities in the Middle Eastern countries remains effective, especially with the existence of fair protection rights and political stability.

Purpose: Drawing on servant leadership theory, this study aims to investigate whether the presence of royal family members on boards of directors impacts corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting. Design/methodology/approach: CSR scores from a Bloomberg database are used and royal family data are collected from annual reports. The required analyses to test the hypotheses of this study have been performed. Findings: The findings demonstrate a positive relationship between the presence of royal family directors and CSR reporting. Originality/value: This study seeks to contribute to the literature on servant leadership theory and CSR by highlighting the impact of royal family directors on CSR reporting. This study may also contribute to an understanding of royal family leadership as a predictor of CSR reporting.

The purpose of this article is to assess the quality of the sustainability reporting indicators used by oil and gas companies (OGCs) in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries. This study utilizes the International Petroleum Industry Environmental Conservation Association (IPIECA) guidance as a new robust methodology to assess the quality of sustainability reporting, which is considered a comprehensive benchmark that directly relates to the oil and gas sector. This study conducts a content analysis of the sustainability reports published by OGCs in GCC countries for the 2016–2018 period. The results reveal that the quality of the sustainability indicators disclosed by companies is largely unsuitable. The results also show that companies fail to report detailed information on environmental indicators as the most important category for OGCs. The findings demonstrate that most OGCs in Qatar pay more attention to sustainable reporting indicators than the OGCs in other GCC countries. This study successfully addresses many previously outstanding issues regarding the quality of the sustainability reporting indicators used by OGCs in GCC countries. Hence, the findings paint a clear picture of the situation so that regulators, policymakers, and managers can correct the existing shortcomings in the quality of sustainability reporting and promote sustainability reporting guidance best practices.