The Economic Benefit of Board Features in Enhancing Corporate Sustainability Reporting Practices Disclosure of Nigerian Listed Non-Financial Firms

Abstract

Companies that worry economically about being held accountable by stakeholders and society for their corporate sustainability reporting (CSR) efforts should have a board structure that protects the interests of all stakeholders and investors. Therefore, we believe knowledgeable boards economically impact CSR practices, especially if they are well-organized. Thus, we look into how board characteristics, specifically board size (BDZE), board independence (BDIND), gender diversity (BOGD), and board CSR committee (CSRC) affect CSR activities. We employed the global consensus rater CSRHUB to evaluate 300 observations from listed firms comprising 50 companies. We postulated that every attribute on the board had a favourable economic impact on CSR activities. Ordinary least square (OLS), Panel-corrected standard error (PCSE), and Driscoll/Karaay (SCC) regression models were used to examine the study's data. Our findings support all the assumptions except for BDIND. Therefore, we conclude that board features like BDZE, BOGD, and CSRC increase the disclosure of CSR activities. Our projections show that BDIND has a detrimental economic impact on CSR practices. Empirical evidence supporting the legitimacy of the board traits that positively contribute to strengthening CSR practices and stakeholders' opinions on the firms are provided by this study. Our findings imply that further research is necessary to understand women's participation on boards of directors fully.