DETERMINANT OF LEVEL OF CLIMATE CHANGE DISCLOSURE BY DEVELOPED AND EMERGING COUNTRIES IN ASIA PACIFIC

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Date
2011-05-04
Authors
PERIASAMY, VINOD
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Abstract
This study investigates how well Ill firms in ten industries, across thirteen countries, are addressed climate change through corporate governance characteristics and firm attributes. This study is based on climate change disclosures made in the sustainability and annual reports by firms domicile in developed and emerging countries in Asia Pacific for the year 2008. The study uses content analysis to construct weighted and unweigthed disclosure indices. Based on the extent literature, several variables namely firm size, industrial membership, country domicile, environment certification, board size, independent nonexecutives, the CEO duality structure and gender are selected and their influence on the level of climate change disclosure was tested empirically. As for agency theory, this study offers both confirmatory and contradictory results regarding board independence. The result reveal that, in spite of the fact that level of the climate change disclosure in some of emerging countries in Asia Pacific is still low, by increasing proposition of independent non-executives in board of directors, encouragement of firms' practices who separates the CEO-board chair role and firm practices in obtaining and maintaining environment certification would directly increases the climate change disclosure in their sustainability reports. Despite that, firms that demonstrate lack of gender diversity in board would increase the climate change reporting system practices. Surprisingly, firm size and board size failed to show any significant relationship with disclosure level. Keywords: Climate change disclosure; content analysis; agency theory; corporate governance; firm attributes; sustainability report; global warming.
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DETERMINANT , CLIMATE CHANGE
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