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This paper aims to explore the biodiversity and threatened species extinction reporting of 54 biodiversity-indexed companies on the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX). The primary objectives are to explore the rhetoric of biodiversity disclosure as a practice of virtue ethics and to identify instances of emancipatory extinction accounts on the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.

The research sample comprised 54 biodiversity-indexed companies on the IDX. A content analysis of the narrative text of their annual and sustainability reports for 2020 was conducted to discern the rhetoric of biodiversity disclosure as an ethical practice using Aristotle’s rhetoric (ethos, logos and pathos). The identification of extinction accounts listed on the IUCN Red List was conducted based on criteria established in the conceptual framework of Atkins and Maroun (2018).

All 54 companies used ethos, logos and pathos in their biodiversity disclosure as a virtuous practice. These disclosures improve the tone of corporate communications and enhance accountability and transparency. Low-profile companies showed a greater propensity for reporting biodiversity disclosures compared to high-profile companies. Additionally, the authors identified 14 companies informing extinction accounts that qualify as emancipatory accounts, with high-profile companies disclosing extinction more frequently than low-profile ones. Emancipatory accounting highlighted species such as turtles, orangutans, elephants, rhinos, turtles and medicinal plants. These accounts are intended as a form of accountability to the species.

The limitation of this research is the observation of annual reports in one period. Future studies can add more observation periods to see the consistency of companies in disclosing biodiversity and extinction.

Companies can adopt the rhetorical strategy of ethos, logos and pathos in disclosing their biodiversity. For policymakers, it is important to establish regulations to encourage companies to disclose biodiversity. The implications for accountants, to contribute more to biodiversity and extinction reporting, considering that previously sustainability accounting reporting was mostly carried out by nonaccountants.

Regarding social implications, emancipatory accounts aimed at preventing the extinction of animals such as birds, orangutans and rhinos will have significant social and natural impacts.

This research represents the first use of Aristotelian rhetoric and virtue to understand biodiversity disclosure as virtue rhetoric and extinction disclosure as emancipatory accounting. This rhetoric is a benevolent persuasion tool that can shape the audience’s thinking and behavior in a more ethical manner concerning biodiversity issues. It provides evidence of the role of accounting as a social and moral practice, which is particularly relevant in the face of a complex reality and increasing concerns, notably regarding the threat of biodiversity loss and extinction.

In countries where disclosing and reporting matters on sustainability are optional, what are the drivers promoting voluntarily disclosing information related to social responsibility and environmental sustainability corporate environmental and social responsibility? Exploring drivers promoting the demand for voluntarily disclosing information related to social responsibility and environmental sustainability in Saudi Arabia, where regulatory and professional bodies have not mandated information on corporate environmental and social responsibility, motivates this study.

A total of 48 individuals voluntarily participated in the survey.

Findings reveal that creating a better social, ethical and mental image, building a public relations image for the company, improving stakeholder trust in the company, signaling to investors the company’s care for the earth to meet the ethical motivation of stakeholders, enhancing corporate social responsibility awareness and exhibiting surpasses the mere generation of profits, all derive such disclosure. Such disclosure also signifies the firm’s value as well as improves the overall firm’s economic performance.

Regulatory and professional bodies must issue and adopt reporting models for entities, principally private companies, whether publicly traded or not, of the content. Their reports should aim to inform users and stakeholders about fulfilling the social and environmental responsibilities of entities toward society and its members.

Out of the drivers for the demand, perceptions of elders toward meeting ethical motivation of senior management significantly differ from that of younger.

Few studies have been attempted on drivers of the demand for reporting environmental sustainability and social responsibility in an environment where such reporting is not mandated. This study offers insight from Saudi Arabian corporate reports.

Countries globally have implemented policies or regulations promoting greater gender diversity in boardrooms. We investigate whether gender diversity on corporate boards leads to higher Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) commitment through these disclosures.

Using 16,659 firm-year observations across 42 countries for the years 2019 and 2020, we use disclosure data from the Refinitiv database to measure the sample firms’ stated commitment to sustainable development.

Our data provide useful comparative information on the countries, legal jurisdictions and types of SGDs currently being disclosed. Our analyses reveal that gender diverse boards are associated with greater levels of SDG disclosures, with such commitment being more significant when there is more than one woman on the board. We also find that women board members are associated most with the PEOPLE and PLANET groups within the SDGs, and our results are robust to additional analyses and endogeneity concerns.

Although gender diversity has been examined within a corporate social responsibility and ethical, social and governance lens, this examination needs to be extended to the SDGs, given the latter’s multi-year horizon and involvement from governments, the private sector and a very broad cross-section of the global community. Our results reinforce global calls for increasing gender representation at the highest levels of organisations to meet the expectations of a greater range of stakeholders in terms of SDG commitment.

This paper aims to explore the extent, nature and communication potential of companies’ use of three popular social media platforms (Facebook, X and LinkedIn) to report on sustainability.

Qualitative methodology through the use of the netnography approach was adopted to evaluate the use of social media for sustainability communication by the Top 50 ASX companies. Content analysis of all company posts determined those with social and environmental content. A thematic analysis was performed using the global reporting initiative (GRI) framework to examine the nature of the reporting. The media richness framework was used to measure the communication potential of the social media platforms for sustainability communication.

The results indicated that the extent of sustainability posts on social media represented less than 20% of total social media posts. The nature of posts by the Top 50 ASX companies was higher on social issues than on environmental issues, which is contradictory to many previous studies. The study also found that while the social media platforms afforded high levels of media richness, most companies failed to exploit the platforms’ full potential to disseminate sustainability information.

This work provides both empirical and theoretical contributions to the ongoing debate concerning the use of social media for sustainability communication. The paper extends Lodhia et al.’s (2020) study of social media use for legitimation purposes and adapts Lodhia’s (2004) media richness framework to social media for sustainability reporting. It adds empirical insights into social media’s communication potential and value for communicating sustainability information.

The extent and nature to which organisations use social media to disclose their sustainability performance has significant practical implications for a variety of stakeholders. The results reveal to these stakeholders and the companies themselves the level of utilisation of social media along with the potential that can be harnessed. These results can potentially improve the quantity, timeliness and usability of sustainability reporting using social media platforms.

The study provides valuable evidence to increase understanding of the sustainability social media communication landscape, which organisations can potentially leverage to communicate their messages. Additionally, sustainability awareness is increased across various demographics by disseminating sustainability information to the wider public. This study will assist policy-setters in developing guidance for using social media for sustainability reporting.

This study extends existing literature, particularly the Lodhia et al. (2020) study, which has primarily focused on examining sustainability content in the media with limited exploration of the communication potential of social media platforms to communicate sustainability content.

This study uses meta-analysis to examine the relationship between corporate sustainability reporting (CSR) and stock price crash risk (SPCR) and to discern the moderating effects of country-level institutional quality and cultural dimensions on this link.

The study used mean correlation coefficients to test the relationship between CSR and SPCR and meta-regressions to test the moderating effects. The analysis considers 65 effect sizes from 24 empirical studies.

The results showed that CSR reduces the chances of SPCR. The inverse relationship between CSR and SPCR is stronger in masculine, high power distance and long-term oriented cultures and is less pronounced in individualistic, uncertainty avoidance and indulgent cultures. The inverse relationship is also stronger in countries where high-quality institutions exist.

This study is based on correlation coefficient analysis and excludes studies publishing only regression results. Furthermore, it provides guidance to lessen SPCR. Findings suggest that such initiatives may mitigate the risk of stock price crashes for firms. Through meta-analysis, this research investigates the correlation between environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure and stock price crash occurrences, offering insights with significant implications for the European financial landscape and globally.

This is a pioneer meta-analysis that investigates the link between CSR and SPCR and the moderating effects of country-level institutional quality and cultural dimensions. Our study sheds light on the potential impact of promoting a sustainable and responsible business environment in Europe through comprehensive ESG disclosure under the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD).

This research employs a behavioural approach to investigate the determinants of CEO disclosure tone inconsistency. By examining CEO characteristics and psychological attributes, the study aims to unravel the complexities underlying tone variations in Management Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) reports. Through this exploration, the research seeks to contribute to understanding ethical considerations in corporate communications and provide insights into the nuanced interplay between personal, job-related and psychological factors influencing CEO disclosure tone.

The study utilises a dataset comprising 1,411 MD&A reports from 143 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange between 2012 and 2021. Multiple regression analyses with year- and industry-fixed effects are employed to examine the relationships between CEO gender, tenure, duality, ability and psychological attributes such as narcissism, myopia, overconfidence and tone inconsistency. Data analysis involves MAXQDA software for analysing MD&A reports and Rahavard Novin software for document analysis, supplemented by audited financial statements.

The findings reveal significant relationships between CEO characteristics, psychological attributes and tone inconsistency. Female CEOs exhibit reduced tone inconsistency, contrasting with previous research trends. CEO tenure correlates negatively with tone inconsistency, whereas CEO ability shows a positive correlation, indicating a nuanced relationship with performance. However, CEO duality does not exhibit a significant association. Psychological attributes such as narcissism and myopia are positively associated with tone inconsistency, while no substantial connection is found with managerial overconfidence.

This research contributes to the inaugural exploration of CEO disclosure tone inconsistency through a behavioural lens, advancing measurement precision in the field. By delving into CEO characteristics and psychological attributes, the study offers unique insights into the roots of tone inconsistency. Applying comprehensive lexicon and phraseology enriches the methodological approach, fostering dialogue among diverse stakeholders and adding distinct perspectives to the discourse on ethical issues in business. Through its meticulous examination of behavioural underpinnings, this study becomes a catalyst for reflection, dialogue and progress in corporate communications and ethical considerations.

Corporate leadership and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance are closely intertwined, as effective corporate leadership can facilitate the achievement of strong ESG performance. Thus, the purpose of the study is to investigate the impact of corporate board leadership on the ESG performance of listed firms.

The sample has been taken from the listed firms of the Nifty 500 index spanning the period of 10 years from 2012 to 2022. Dynamic panel data estimations are applied through a fixed effect model.

The findings of this study revealed that board size, board independence and board qualification have a significant positive influence on ESG performance. It is evident that good corporate governance practices can positively influence ESG performance by fostering accountability, transparency and ethical behavior, as well as better integrating ESG considerations into their decision-making processes and ensuring that ESG issues are prioritized at the highest levels of management. Further findings also revealed that chief executive officer (CEO) duality has a significant negative relationship with ESG performance, which goes against the belief of stakeholder theory.

It has practical implications for policymakers, as they can enact new regulations pertaining to the CEO’s position in the organizations to make corporate governance responsible for improved sustainability and ESG performance.

There are very few studies analyzing the impact of corporate board structure on ESG performance related to emerging markets. Thus, this study contributes to that literature by using the methodology GMM panel data for the first time as per our knowledge

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between board gender equality and environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in the European banking sector. The study examines whether and how the presence of women on the board of directors (BoD) influences ESG dimensions.

The authors analyzed a sample of 72 European Union banks for the period 2015–2021 and developed an econometric model applying unbalanced panel data regression with firm fixed effects and controls per year. To test the research hypotheses, the authors considered gender equality in terms of female participation on the BoD and measured ESG dimensions by using the ESG score provided by Refinitiv.

The findings suggest a significant positive relationship between the number of women on BoD and the ESG performance of European banks only up to a certain threshold of female directors (at least three women). The study also explores how the proportion of women on BoD influences the individual ESG pillars. The results show that the percentage of female directors has a positive and statistically significant impact on the social dimension of the ESG framework.

The investigation is highly relevant to investors considering ESG issues in their decision-making process. The overall findings support policymakers and regulators on how to improve ESG performance through the design and the application of corporate governance (CG) mechanisms. From a managerial perspective, the study suggests that managers and CEOs should focus their efforts on establishing the right gender combination of directors on bank BoDs.

This paper offers an in-depth examination of the CG practices of banks, and it attempts to bridge the gap in prior literature on the determinants of ESG issues in the European banking industry. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first that investigates the relationship between the representation of women on BoDs and the ESG dimensions measured by the Refinitiv Eikon score. The use of critical mass theory adds a fresh perspective to the literature on ESG in Europe since the influence of board gender diversity on ESG performance of the European banks is still unaccounted for. This study addresses this pressing research issue drawing on resource dependence, agency and legitimacy theories.

This study aims to investigate the effects of board cultural diversity (BCD) and board gender diversity (BGD) of the board of directors on environmental, social and governance (ESG) performance in the European banking sector using resource-based view (RBV) theory. In addition, this study analyses the linkages between BCD and BGD and knowledge sharing on the board of directors to improve ESG performance.

This study selected a sample of European-listed banks covering the period 2021. ESG and diversity variables were collected from Refinitiv Eikon and analysed using the ordinary least squares model. This study was conducted in the European context regulated by Directive 95/2014/EU, which requires sustainability disclosure. The original population was represented by 250 banks; after missing data were excluded, the final sample comprised 96 European-listed banks.

The findings highlight the positive linkages between BGD, BCD and ESG scores in the European banking sector. In addition, the findings highlight that diversity contributes to knowledge sharing by improving ESG performance in a regulated sector. Nonetheless, the combined effect of BGD and BCD negatively impacts ESG performance.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to measure and analyse a regulated sector, such as banking, and the relationship between cultural and gender diversity for sharing knowledge under the RBV theory lens in the ESG framework.

This study aims to bridge a gap in literature by exploring the impact of art and culture projects on primary internal stakeholders (i.e. employees), focusing on the micro-foundations of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

The analysis uses a qualitative approach, using a single-case study and semi-structured interviews. The single-case study focuses on art and culture projects developed by companies participating in the public contest promoted by Parma City of Culture 2020. The analysis relies on the information gathered from interviews with the employees who were involved in the projects of seven of the winning companies.

The results suggest that employees positively assess their participation in CSR activities based on art and culture projects. Specifically, through their direct involvement in the competition employees manage to experience meaningfulness and they attribute intrinsic motives to these types of activities.

This study analyses the effectiveness of a publicly endorsed CSR initiative oriented towards internal social enhancement based on art and culture projects, leveraging the unique case of Parma City of Culture 2020. The findings might be beneficial to both companies and regulators aiming to achieve internal social enhancement. This study contributes to existing literature on the social dimension of CSR by emphasising the key role of art and culture projects in the organisational context and by opening new avenues for future research.