This study analyzes the impact of environmental disclosure, board attributes, and firms' specifics on the levels of environmental and ESG performance in Europe and Asia. The study utilizes secondary data from Refinitiv Eikon database for 8094 firms for the period between 2016 and 2021. The study employs panel data analysis using fixed effect models to estimate the results. The findings suggest that disclosure on emissions, innovations, environmental controversies, environmentally friendly products, proactive environmental investments, environmental expenses, and fines charged by authorities have a positive and significant influence on the level of firms’ environmental and ESG performance. Furthermore, the study identifies board tenure, independence, size, and meetings as being associated with greater levels of environmental disclosures, reporting, and sustainability score. However, board diversity is found to have a limited contribution to environmental disclosures, especially in Asian countries. Additionally, the results reveal that companies with higher revenue growth, larger size and market capitalization, and better performance have greater and better disclosure of environmental and sustainability issues. The study provides practical implications for policymakers to establish comprehensive guidelines for environmental and sustainability reporting based on the analysis of institutional, regulatory frameworks, legislation, and sustainability score enforcement status of the country.

The study aims to investigate the effect of several sustainability indicators on firms’ value. Panel data of 1914 observations from the UK and Turkey from 2016 to 2021 with a fixed effect model are used to estimate the results. The findings reveal that ESG indicators associate significantly with firms’ value. However, ESG indicators exhibit a stronger significant association with Tobin’s Q than stock prices and market-to-book value. This indicates that sustainability indicators are linked to the firm’s overall market value and the long-term run market valuation rather than just the stock market value. The results also reveal that while board independence, board expertise, and diversity exhibit a significant and positive association with firms’ value, board size negatively affects firms’ value. The current study provides unique contributions and comprehensive evidence based on different institutional and country sustainability enforcement statuses. It offers empirical implications for regulatory authorities and other developing countries to provide a comprehensive ESG reporting framework.

The purpose of the study is to investigate how environmental disclosure affects environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting, specifically in relation to emissions, innovation, use of resources, environmental controversy, and environmental products. It also looks at how specific firm attributes and board characteristics affect ESG reporting in three different industries. The analysis uses data for 8094 enterprises sampled from Asia and Europe between 2016 and 2021 that was gathered from secondary sources and taken from the Refinitiv Eikon database. According to the findings, proactive environmental investments, fines, and environmental expenses associated with ESG reporting are positively correlated. The findings also show that European businesses disclose environmental information at a higher degree than Asian businesses, which benefits their sustainability initiatives. Furthermore, sustainability indices have an adverse relationship with ESG reporting in Asia but a positive relationship with ESG reporting in Europe. Crucially, the findings show that various industries have varied relationships between sustainability reporting and environmental indicators. The study provides valuable insights for policymakers by highlighting the extent to which enterprises disclose their emissions, innovations, and resource use. Additionally, the study offers evidence on the role of corporate board members and how certain board characteristics as important mechanisms can improve the quality of ESG reporting making environmental disclosures useful and relevant.

This paper examines the interplay between country-level control of corruption (CLCC), female board representation, and corporate sustainability performance using panel data analysis with fixed effect models on a global sample of over 36,000 observations from 2016 to 2021. Our analysis was conducted in four stages: first, assessing the baseline effects of gender diversity on sustainability outcomes within the context of corruption control; second, exploring these effects across groups categorized by Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs); third, examining differences between developing and developed regions; and finally, analyzing regional variations across America, Europe, and Asia. The results indicate that both control of corruption and increased board diversity have significant positive effects on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) scores, with a highly significant interaction effect, suggesting a substantial combined influence. Additionally, analyses based on SDG alignment demonstrate that control of corruption improves ESG performance irrespective of SDG level, while board diversity benefits both high and low SDG groups. Regional analyses further reveal varied effects across America, Europe, and Asia. These findings underscore the significance of corruption control and female representation in enhancing corporate sustainability worldwide, emphasizing the potential for firms to improve ESG performance by prioritizing anti-corruption efforts and promoting board diversity. This international study contributes valuable insights into the relationship between country-level governance, corporate board composition, and sustainability outcomes across diverse contexts, highlighting the importance of tailoring sustainability policies and practices based on regional and developmental nuances.