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This study aims at examining the value relevance of tax-related information in Canada. Tax-related information in this study includes taxable income, tax aggressiveness, and tax risk (i.e., unsustainable tax planning).

This study analyzes the Canadian listed firms covering the period of 2012–2021 using the Feltham–Ohlson valuation model.

The findings are: (1) taxable income provides incremental value relevance information; (2) tax risk reduces the value relevance of both taxable income and accounting income and (3) tax aggressiveness reduces the value relevance of accounting income but not of taxable income. Further tests show that the COVID-19 pandemic increases the value relevance of taxable income but decreases the value relevance of accounting income. An analysis of the association between stock price volatility and tax-related information documents that taxable income and accounting income are both informative. Tax risk reduces the informativeness of taxable income, but tax aggressiveness and the pandemic do not.

The sample in this study covers the period up to 2021. Future research could use more recent data. Additionally, this study examines the Canadian setting. The results may not be generalized to other countries that have different accounting and tax rules.

This study sheds light on whether tax aggressiveness and tax risk affect the value relevance of taxable income and accounting income separately. In addition, to our knowledge, this is the first study that examines whether tax-related information is informative about stock price volatility.

The intensity of carbon emissions has led to the serious problem of global warming, and the consequences in terms of climatic disasters are gaining increasing attention worldwide. As the energy sector is responsible for most global emissions, developing clean energy is crucial to combat climate change. This study aims to examine the relationship between corporate governance and renewable energy (RE) consumption and explore the interaction between RE production and RE use.

The study adopts an econometric framework of a panel model, followed by the robustness check using alternative methods, including logit regressions. The bivariate probit model is used to analyze the interaction between the decision to use and the decision to produce RE. The analysis is based on a sample of 3,896 firms covering 45 countries worldwide.

The results reveal that appropriate governance mechanisms positively impact RE consumption. These include the existence of a sustainability committee; environmental, social and governance-based compensation policy; financial performance-based compensation; sustainability external audit; transparency; board gender diversity; and board independence. Firms with appropriate governance mechanisms are more likely to produce and use RE than others. Finally, while RE use positively impacts firm value and environmental performance, the authors find no significant effect on current profitability.

This study goes beyond previous research by exploring the impact of multiple governance mechanisms. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is also the first study examining the relationship between RE use and firm value. Overall, the findings suggest that RE transition requires, first of all, establishing appropriate governance mechanisms within companies.

This study investigates how the initiatives and controversies related to environmental, social and governance (ESG) explain firm efficiency.

Firstly, this study applies data envelopment analysis with the epsilon-based measure to estimate the firm efficiency of 80 companies in the Chinese energy sector in 2022. This approach accounts for the diversity and relative importance of inputs and outputs from a multidimensional perspective. Secondly, this study regresses the variables of ESG initiatives and controversies on the estimated firm efficiency scores through a generalised additive model, which can capture nonlinear patterns.

This study finds that a) the samples have i) about 49% room for improvement in efficiently optimising their resources and business outcomes and ii) the highest scores in governance initiatives, followed by social initiative. b) 69% of them have controversy scores that are greater than the average value. c) A cluster analysis indicates that companies with higher social initiatives have higher firm efficiency than their counterparts. d) ESG initiatives and controversies are nonlinearly related to firm efficiency.

The findings have practical implications for policy makers and managers who prioritise ESG, particularly regarding (i) the need to examine firm performance from a multidimensional perspective, that is, to measure multiple inputs and outputs simultaneously, (ii) the nonlinearity of the nexus between ESG and efficiency in graphical forms, and (iii) the need to balance ESG initiatives and address ESG controversies.

This study integrates statistical approaches in examining and ensuring sustainable growth and efficiency within the Chinese energy sector and beyond.

This paper aims to systematically analyse the publications in the field of integrated reporting (IR) and to present an overview of the current publication trends in IR based on the data obtained from the Scopus database.

Selected bibliometric indicators and bibliometrix R-packages are used in examining metrics like annual publication trends, authors with the most produced work, papers that are often cited, top productive countries, top productive affiliations, frequently mentioned journals, frequently mentioned keywords, analysis of co-citation, analysis of collaboration and analysis of co-word.

The findings from the bibliometric review indicated that the trend of IR literature had increased from 2017 to 2020, specifically from 2017 to 2019. The findings also indicated that several publications on IR entailed several authors’ collaboration and were published in various languages. Moreover, around 148 institution-affiliated researchers from 40 institutions in 20 countries contributed to the IR publication.

This paper offers a comprehensive overview of the current development in IR. It is useful to help emerging scholars identify and understand current trends in IR based on different countries, authors and languages.

This paper contributes to the literature on IR by highlighting the trends of IR publications from the Scopus database using bibliometric analysis.

The primary objective of this research is to provide evidence that there are two distinct layers of investor sentiments that can affect asset valuation models. The first is general market-wide sentiments, while the second is biased approaches toward specific assets.

To achieve the goal, the authors conducted a multi-step analysis of stock returns and constructed complex sentiment indices that reflect the optimism or pessimism of stock market participants. The authors used panel regression with fixed effects and a sample of the US stock market to improve the explanatory power of the three-factor models.

The analysis showed that both market-level and stock-level sentiments have significant contributions, although they are not equal. The impact of stock-level sentiments is more profound than market-level sentiments, suggesting that neglecting the stock-level sentiment proxies in asset valuation models may lead to severe deficiencies.

In contrast to previous studies, the authors propose that investor sentiments should be measured using a multi-level factor approach rather than a single-factor approach. The authors identified two distinct levels of investor sentiment: general market-wide sentiments and individual stock-specific sentiments.

This study aims to explore the relationship between firm risk, capital structure, cost of equity capital and social and environmental sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic for companies listed on Tehran Stock Exchange.

To this aim, the information about 190 companies in 2014–2020 was retrieved to be analyzed. The total risk and systematic risk were used as the indicators of company risk; the industry-adjusted earnings price ratio (IndEP) and GORDON were used for the cost of equity capital. To measure social sustainability and environmental sustainability, the procedure suggested by Arianpoor and Salehi (2020) was used.

Underleveraged firms have had a lower total risk during the COVID-19 pandemic, while overleveraged firms have not had a higher risk during this time. In overleveraged firms, using systematic risk has a negative impact on social sustainability during the COVID-19 pandemic. In overleveraged firms, using total risk and systematic risk has a significant negative impact on environmental sustainability in the pandemic. Besides, overleveraged firms have a lower cost of equity capital (IndEP) during COVID-19.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no similar study has so far examined the joint impact of COVID-19 and corporate risk on social and environmental sustainability and also the joint impact of COVID-19 and capital structure on the cost of equity. This study contributes to the related literature by providing corporations with insightful post-pandemic directions on capital structure decisions and social and environmental activities. Furthermore, this research and the relevant findings can help understand and develop social responsibility in Iran as a developing country.

Financial and nonfinancial disclosures (sustainable accounting) are crucial in the annual financial reports of many firms. This study aims to explore the dynamic relationship between sustainability disclosure quality (SDQ) and financial performance (FP) within mandatory disclosure frameworks. SDQ is evaluated across six dimensions, encompassing both the quality and quantity of disclosures, aiming to understand their reciprocal influence.

Using the generalized method of moments (GMM), this research analyzes data from 2013 to 2019, focusing on 99 listed Indian firms within the S&P Bombay stock exchange (BSE) 500 index. The study uses rigorous measurement criteria to assess SDQ and uses statistical methods to unveil the causal link between SDQ and FP.

The results show a positive causal connection between SDQ and FP, where organizations with good FP make relatively higher disclosures across FP proxies than their counterparts. Additionally, the study investigates the impact of research and development (R&D) expenditure and dividend payments (DIVD) on SDQ. Notably, lower R&D spending is associated with higher quality SDs, and companies with superior SDQ exhibit increased DIVD.

The findings advocate for strengthened regulatory compliance, incentivized sustainable practices and heightened reporting standards for a transparent business environment and achieving the relevant United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

This research contributes original insights by uncovering the intricate relationship between SDQ and FP, shedding light on the impact of R&D expenditure and DIVD on SDQ. These findings contribute to a nuanced understanding of the interplay between FP and sustainability reporting within the context of mandatory disclosure frameworks.

This study aims to provide insights into gender diversity in Pakistani boardrooms, particularly for the dominant family business type, which is strongly guided by (non-financial) family-related objectives when making business decisions, such as the appointment of board members. Pakistani companies operate within the framework of weak legal institutions and a traditionally highly patriarchal environment. This study examines how corporate decisions regarding the appointment of female board members play out in this socio-political and cultural environment.

Board composition and board characteristics were examined using hand-collected data from 213 listed family firms and non-family firms on the Pakistan Stock Exchange from 2003 to 2017. Univariate analyses, probit regressions and robustness tests were performed.

Pakistani family firms have a significantly higher proportion of women on their boards than do non-family firms. They are also significantly more likely to appoint women to top positions, such as CEO or chairs.

Evidently, women are allowed to enter boards through family affiliations. Gender quotas appear an ineffective instrument for breaking through the “glass ceiling” in this socio-cultural environment. Thus, gender parity must entail the comprehensive promotion of women and the enforcement of legal reforms for structural and cultural change.

The analysis focuses on a Muslim-majority emerging Asian market that has been scarcely researched, thus offering new perspectives and insights into board composition and corporate governance that go beyond the well-studied Western countries.