Sustainability commitment as a moderator between green governance and report quality in ASEAN

Abstract

This study explores how green governance influences the quality of sustainability reports, emphasizing the moderating role of sustainability commitment. Utilizing a quantitative method with unbalanced panel data, the research focuses on firms listed on ASEAN stock exchanges that issued sustainability reports from 2015 to 2019. Results indicate that board independence, gender diversity, and sustainability commitment significantly and positively affect sustainability report quality. In contrast, board size has only a limited impact, while the presence of a chief sustainability officer is associated with improved conciseness in reporting. Notably, the existence of a sustainability committee does not significantly affect report quality. Sustainability commitment is also found to strengthen the relationship between female board representation and reporting quality, suggesting that a strong commitment enhances the benefits of board diversity. Additionally, company-specific factors such as firm size and industry sector contribute positively to report quality. The study acknowledges certain limitations, including insufficient disclosure of social cost data by some firms and a focus on only three reporting quality dimensions: clarity, conciseness, and reliability. This research contributes in several ways: it highlights green governance and sustainability commitment as drivers of report quality, offers practical insights for investors, and frames governance elements as strategic assets. The study also extends theoretical discourse by connecting green governance and reporting practices to agency theory and the resource-based view in the ASEAN context