Journal Articles

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915

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Subject: search.filters.subject.Corporate governance

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    Do socially preferred firms disclose more ESG information?
    (Emerald Publishing Limited, 2025-08-25) Peng Z; Anderson HD; Chi J; Liao J
    Purpose While research shows “sin” firms voluntarily disclose more social responsibility information, little research examines such practices in socially preferred industries. This study aims to address this gap by contrasting firm-level environmental, social and governance (ESG) information disclosure of New Zealand firms. Design/methodology/approach This study extracts all New Zealand listed companies for which Bloomberg provides ESG data from 2010 to 2023. Besides, this study excludes firms in financial service sector. The final sample contains 52 companies and 514 firm-year observations. Findings This study find that retirement village firms and the healthcare industry whose operations are commonly considered to be socially preferred, disclose less ESG information than firms in other industries. This result remains after a series of robustness tests, including alternative measures and matching samples. The addition of ESG provisions in the 2017 New Zealand Exchange’s (NZX) Corporate Governance Code, female and independent directors have a significantly positive moderating effect on ESG disclosure. In addition, retirement village firms with higher financial constraints increase ESG disclosure. Furthermore, this study finds that increased ESG disclosure enhances market valuation and reduces the cost of debt. Research limitations/implications A natural limitation of this research is its limited sample size, focusing on New Zealand firms, which may limit the generalisability of the findings to other regions with different regulatory and cultural contexts. Practical implications This research suggests that firms in socially preferred industries, like healthcare and retirement villages, may need stronger incentives or guidelines to improve ESG disclosure. Enhancing corporate governance, particularly through independent and female directors, could positively influence ESG transparency, guiding policy and board composition strategies. Social implications The research highlights a potential gap in ESG disclosure among industries. This suggests a need for greater public awareness and advocacy to ensure that even socially favoured sectors are held accountable for their environmental and social impacts, promoting broader corporate responsibility. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature by revealing that socially preferred industries, such as healthcare and retirement villages, may disclose less ESG information than other sectors. It provides novel insights into the role of corporate governance, particularly the influence of female and independent directors, in enhancing ESG transparency.
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    Reprint of: Corporate culture and carbon emission performance
    (Elsevier Ltd on behalf of the British Accounting and Finance Association, 2025-02-12) Hasan MM; Bhuiyan MBU; Taylor G
    Using a large sample of U.S. firms from 2002 to 2020, we investigate the relationship between corporate culture and the extent of carbon emissions. We provide evidence that the quantum of carbon emissions is negatively associated with corporate cultural attributes manifested by integrity, teamwork, innovation, and respect. These results hold after controlling for potential endogeneity issues using several identification techniques. We also document that the negative culture–emissions relationship is magnified in firms with weak corporate governance and in those operating in environmentally sensitive industries. Additionally, this relationship is less salient in the presence of social capital. Finally, we demonstrate that in firms with a stronger culture, elevated carbon emissions result in a lower firm value. Our findings may be of interest to environmental regulators and management in their pursuit of firm-level carbon emission targets.
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    Corporate culture and carbon emission performance
    (Elsevier Ltd, 2024-11) Hasan MM; Bhuiyan MBU; Taylor G
    Using a large sample of U.S. firms from 2002 to 2020, we investigate the relationship between corporate culture and the extent of carbon emissions. We provide evidence that the quantum of carbon emissions is negatively associated with corporate cultural attributes manifested by integrity, teamwork, innovation, and respect. These results hold after controlling for potential endogeneity issues using several identification techniques. We also document that the negative culture–emissions relationship is magnified in firms with weak corporate governance and in those operating in environmentally sensitive industries. Additionally, this relationship is less salient in the presence of social capital. Finally, we demonstrate that in firms with a stronger culture, elevated carbon emissions result in a lower firm value. Our findings may be of interest to environmental regulators and management in their pursuit of firm-level carbon emission targets.
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    In the radiance of enlightenment: The influence of nontheistic religions on corporate default risk
    (Elsevier B V, 2024-06) Feng Y; Hao W; Fang J; Wongchoti U
    We investigate whether religious site density around a firm's headquarters is related to corporate default risk in China. We find that public firms surrounded by a higher number of Buddhist and Taoist temples are associated with lower default risk. In contrast to the widely documented impact of Western religiosity on corporate behavior, our mechanism tests indicate that lower default risk related to religious site density is primarily driven by better corporate governance and not by a surge in corporate conservatism. Finally, we find that this default risk lowering effect is more pronounced when firms also possess greater political resources.
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    Local creative culture and audit fees
    (Elsevier Ltd on behalf of British Accounting Association, 2023-03-13) Costa MD; Habib A
    This paper examines the association between local creative culture and audit fees. Using a large, unbalanced panel data of listed US firms between 2004 and 2018, we find evidence that firms headquartered in US counties with high creative culture tend to pay higher audit fees than firms headquartered in counties with low creative culture. We also find that such firms tend to have longer audit report lag and are subject to more shareholder litigation. Cross-sectional tests show that real earnings management, managerial risk-taking propensity, and external corporate governance environment moderate the positive association between creative culture and audit fees. The positive association between local creative culture and audit fees remains robust to controlling for endogeneity concerns. Our study contributes to the emerging literature on local creative culture by providing evidence that local creative culture encourages managers and employees to undertake risky initiatives, thereby increasing audit risks.