This study examines how ESG disclosure (ESGD) influences firm value (FV) in Saudi Arabia. It also analyzes the moderating roles of audit committee (AC) characteristics and sustainability committees (SC) on this relationship. The sample consists of 100 top non-financial firms listed on the Saudi stock exchange (Tadawul) from 2015 to 2022, yielding 800 firm-year observations. Using pooled ordinary least squares (OLS), fixed effects regression, and GMM methods, the findings indicate a significant positive effect of ESGD on FV. Moreover, all AC characteristics and the sustainability committee positively and significantly strengthened this relationship. These findings carry important implications for investors, regulators, and corporate managers by highlighting how governance structures can influence financial performance, especially in emerging markets. This study contributes to the literature by expanding the discussion on the beneficial impact of AC characteristics and SC on FV within developing economies. Unlike earlier research that mainly focused on the direct link between ESGD and FV, this work underscores the role of governance factors in enhancing that relationship.

This study aims to explore the impact of artificial intelligence adoption in accounting systems (AIAS) on organizational performance (OP). Further, the study explores the mediating role of financial decision-making quality (FDMQ) on the AIAS-OP relationship. The sample comprises 583 accountants, finance managers, CFOs, and auditors in all firms listed on the Egyptian Stock Exchange (EGX), covering banking, IT, manufacturing, and service sectors. Data were analyzed using Smart-PLS 4 software. The results revealed a positive and significant impact of AIAS on both FDMQ and OP. Further, the results revealed a positive and significant impact of FDMQ on OP. Finally, FDMQ showed a significant mediating role between AIAS and OP. These results have significant implications for policymakers, investors, regulators, and corporate executives, emphasizing the crucial role played by AIAS and FDMQ in shaping OP, particularly within emerging markets such as Egypt. This study provides a valuable contribution to the accounting literature by highlighting the impactful consequences of AIAS and FDMQ on OP in a unique and unexplored context. Furthermore, this research underscores the vital role that FDMQ assumes in mediating the relationship between AIAS and OP, contrasting with earlier studies in the literature which primarily examined the direct impact of AIAS or FDMQ on OP.

This study examines the perceptions of external auditors operating in Egypt regarding technical reserves audit challenges and opportunities with the emergence of Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). All audit firms that are specialized in reviewing insurance companies’ financial statements and are working in Egypt were surveyed to ascertain if there is a notable discrepancy in auditors' perceptions of challenges and opportunities of technical reserves audit with the emergence of ERP. The final sample consists of 126 auditors who work in Big 4 auditing firms, and non-Big 4 auditing firms. Through hypotheses testing the main findings reveal that the auditors' perceptions differ significantly from one another regarding challenges and risks encountering them in auditing the general insurance companies and the impact of ERP systems on the producers they carry out. In addition, the abovementioned perception differences were explained through engaging in auditors’ psychological counterpart (i.e., Gender, educational level, audit firm size and experience in auditing insurance companies) throughout the analysis. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to investigate the auditors’ perception regarding the technical reserve audit while using an ERP in emerging markets. Hence, the current study touches a blind spot in literature as the current investigation and results bring new evidence regarding technical reserve audit which enrich the ongoing debate on technical reserves audit and the challenges and opportunities related to the increased use of software packages like the ERP.

This study explores the impact of blockchain technology (BT) implementation on sustainable environmental performance (SEP). Further, the study explores the moderating role of environmental management accounting (EMA) on the BT–SEP relationship. The sample comprises 415 managers in an Egyptian industrial firm. Data were analyzed using Smart-PLS 4 software. The results revealed a positive and significant impact of BT on SEP. Moreover, EMA showed a significant moderating role as it strengthens the relationship between BT and SEP. These results hold significant implications for policymakers, investors, regulators and corporate executives, underlining the importance of BT implementation and EMA strategies and techniques in shaping SEP, particularly within developing markets such as Egypt. This study makes a distinguished added value to the accounting literature by highlighting the valuable consequences of BT, and EMA on SEP in a unique unexplored context. This study highlights the critical role that EMA plays in moderating the BT–SEP relationship, in contrast to early studies in the literature that focused on examining the direct impact of BT or EMA on SEP.

Understanding the factors that shape firms’ borrowing costs has become increasingly important amid growing concerns about corporate transparency, sustainability, and tax practices. Specifically, the study investigates the relationship between tax avoidance (TA) and the cost of debt (CoD) among non-financial firms listed on an emerging Stock Exchange, while examining the moderating effect of environmental, social, and governance disclosure (ESG disclosure) based on the Panel-Corrected Standard Error (PCSE) approach. The findings indicate a significant positive association between TA and CoD, suggesting that lenders perceive aggressive tax practices as a source of additional risk, which consequently increases borrowing costs. The results further show that ESG disclosure plays a moderating role in this relationship, as the positive effect of TA on borrowing costs becomes weaker among firms with higher levels of ESG disclosure. This implies that stronger ESG disclosure improves transparency and alleviates creditors’ concerns about firms’ tax-related behavior. The findings were further validated through robustness checks using alternative CoD measures, fixed-effects regression, and dynamic panel GMM estimations to address endogeneity concerns. The study contributes to the literature by providing evidence from an emerging market and highlighting the role of ESG disclosure in mitigating the negative financial effects of TA.