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This study aims to explore whether firms that have a sustainability committee operating on the board, publish separate sustainability reports that are externally assured by an independent external audit and have large and active boards are more likely to be engaged in environmental practices and have better environmental performance.

Based on a sample of firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange, covering the period 2014–2021, this study applies panel data models to examine the research hypotheses.

The findings show significant positive associations between the existence of a sustainability committee, the publication of separate sustainability reports and the independent external assurance of these reports and environmental performance. This study also finds that the composite internal governance index is significant and positively associated with environmental performance.

Policymakers should support the creation of a sustainability committee on the boards of Saudi firms and review its role and responsibilities. The findings of this study inform regulators of the importance of the existence of independent external assurance of the sustainability reports of Saudi firms to enhance the credibility and reliability of these reports. Managers need to establish devoted committees committed to sustainability-related tasks that help coordinate communications between the firm and stakeholders.

The Saudi Arabian Government has implemented a range of policies and initiatives aimed at improving environmental performance, which is a main focus of Saudi Vision 2030 to achieve environmental sustainability. Therefore, this study provides unique evidence and new insights on the impact of internal governance on corporate environmental performance in the Saudi context.

This study aims to investigate the possible implications of compliance with corporate governance (CG) provisions, including board composition and ownership structures, on the firm’s likelihood of falling into financial distress.

The study applies a random-effects logistic regression model as a baseline analysis using a sample of 110 FTSE 350 manufacturing companies from 2014 to 2019. This technique is supported by conducting a two-stage Heckman regression model to overcome the potential existence of endogeneity problems.

The empirical evidence suggests that board composition and ownership structure are heterogeneously associated with financial distress probabilities in that they might have either reduced or increased the financial distress of the sampled firms. Specifically, board independence, board gender diversity, audit committee independence and institutional ownership negatively influence the likelihood of financial distress. In contrast, and consistent with the expectations, ownership concentration is positively attributed to financial distress, while the board size, audit committee size and managerial ownership have insignificant impacts on financial distress.

The study extends the existing body of knowledge by examining the collective effect of board characteristics and ownership structures on firms’ financial distress likelihood among a sample of manufacturing firms within the FTSE 350 index post the 2008 global financial crisis and following the recent CG reforms in the UK during the study period from 2014 to 2019.

This study examines the effects of firm size on financial reporting quality (FRQ) through the mediating effects of audit committee (AC) quality and internal audit function (IAF) quality.

Based on data from a questionnaire survey and archival sources of non-financial companies listed on the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE), the authors perform both structural equational modeling and ordinary least squares (OLS) regression to test the developed hypotheses.

Results show that the firm size is positively related to IAF quality. Firm size, AC quality and IAF quality are significantly associated with abnormal accruals (FRQ). Moreover, the authors find a mediation effect of the IAF quality on the relationship between firm size and FRQ, while no mediation effect is observed for AC quality. Thus, the study advocates companies focus on AC quality and IAF quality to enhance FRQ as it has a significant impact on corporate disclosure and investor decisions.

First, the study is restricted to the survey questions that cover particular areas of the AC and IAF. Second, the sample selection focuses on relatively big industries in terms of the number of firms and excludes small sectors.

The findings provide significant implications for professionals and policymakers in making regulatory reforms and revising existing policies to improve governance monitoring performance and FRQ.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the mediation effect of AC quality and IAF quality on firm size–FRQ nexus in a developing country.

A key goal of this research is to examine empirically whether politically connected board members are likely to impact corporate philanthropy. A further goal of this study is to contribute to the existing literature by examining the moderating role of political connections on the relationship between family ownership and corporate donations.

Based on the content analysis approach, the authors determined the level of cash and in-kind donations made by a group of 94 non-financial Jordanian companies listed on the Amman Stock Exchange. This study examined 658 annual reports spanning over seven years from 2010 to 2016. Ordinary least squares regression (OLS) is used to test the study hypotheses. In addition, this study used the probit regression to validate those results reported by the OLS regression.

Compared to unconnected companies, politically connected companies in Jordan are more likely to donate to philanthropic causes. Moreover, the results revealed that the presence of significant family ownership shareholding in a firm can weaken the firm tendency to donate. Despite this, the regression analysis results indicate that family-controlled firms with political connections are more likely to engage in charitable giving activities compared to those without political nexuses.

The study contributes to the conversation surrounding corporate giving and sheds light on the role political connections and ownership structure (particularly family-owned firms) play in affecting donations by firms.

Managers of Jordanian firms listed on the stock exchange can use the study's findings to make better decisions about their donations and other philanthropic activities.

This study is the first to examine the relationship between firm donations and political connections in Jordan, and how political nexuses can moderate the relationship between family ownership and corporate donations. Hence, it extends prior research significantly.