Kwadjo Appiagyei

We examine how national culture moderates the relationship between corporate governance (CG) and Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) disclosure of Fintech firms. Employing the least squares dummy variable regression estimation technique on 1,600 firm-year observations for 310 Fintech companies across eight countries, our results suggest that the influence of board size, independence, and gender diversity on Fintech companies’ ESG disclosures is more pronounced in collectivist and low-indulgent cultures. Uncertainty avoidance, time orientation and gender cultural dimensions also moderate Fintech firms’ board size, independence and ESG disclosure relationship. We highlight the importance of culture in boards' ESG disclosure decisions and in the CG-ESG disclosure nexus.

Purpose
This study aims to clarify the value of sustainable development goals (SDGs) commitment by examining the moderating role of firms’ commitment to SDGs on firms’ carbon emissions (CE) and firm value (FV) nexus.

Design/methodology/approach
The study uses ordinary least squares and other robust estimations on data from 89 listed firms on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) from 2013 to 2021.

Findings
Firms with high CE are associated with lower FV. However, firms’ commitment to SDGs moderates the relationship by averting the value-destroying tendencies of high carbon-emitting firms.

Practical implications
Firms should integrate SDGs into their core business strategy and governance frameworks to enhance their environmental performance and FV. As market participants on the JSE, they should also focus on the allocation of resources for SDGs and the management of CE.

Social implications
The findings provide a basis for governments and policymakers to promote firm-level commitment to SDGs to help reduce the harmful effects of CE on society and help achieve SDG targets.

Originality/value
The study adds a new dimension to the existing environmental performance and financial outcomes literature by clarifying the moderating value of firms’ commitment to SDGs in the CE and FV discourse.

This study examines the influence of board generational cohorts on firms' sustainability performance (FSP) and the critical mass of directors within the different cohorts that influences FSP. We find that while Boomers have a positive influence on FSP, Traditionalist, GenX and GenY members are less concerned about FSP. Additionally, older cohorts (Traditionalists and Boomers) require three directors to exert their respective influence on FSP, whereas GenX and GenY require two or more and one director, respectively. Furthermore, the presence of Boomers may mitigate the limited focus of other generational cohorts on FSP. By identifying that not all cohorts in the older generation have a positive influence on FSP, that boomers may help mitigate the negative influence of other cohorts and the critical mass for which each cohort establishes an influence, we inform firms and policy makers on the mix of cohorts on the board that may enhance FSP.

Global north and south research partnerships are essential for building research capacity in the global south and for generating new knowledge to address complex socio-environmental problems. However, insights from various disciplines, particularly global health research, suggest that north-south research collaborations often reproduce unequal power relations and outcomes. To mitigate these, some international funding organizations have produced guidelines that promote ethical practice in collaborative research. Despite these measures, significant gaps exist in understanding how the experiences and perspectives of Global South scholars, particularly those in the field of environmental sciences, shapes discourses on unequal north-south research partnerships and the ethical guidelines developed to address disparities. To bridge this gap, we conducted explorative qualitative research focused on understanding the experiences of environmental science and sustainability researchers from Ghana in international collaborative research. Our findings revealed a general optimism among scientists regarding the benefits of international collaborative for making impactful contributions in the global south, expanding professional networks, opening opportunities to publish in high impact journals and developing new research skills. At the same time, our findings also indicate that pervasive forms of inequality centered around lack of recognition, poor clarity of roles, disrespect, unequal resource sharing, poor communication, and non-adherence to contractual agreements persist. We contribute to the ongoing scholarly debate on research inequality by proposing a framework to guide the management, design, and implementation of north-south research partnerships. Our proposed framework serves as a starting point toward identifying potential unequal and unethical issues that often arise in north-south research partnerships.

This review presents a bibliometric performance and systematic literature review of research publications related to the 17 United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) in business studies. The study employs the 2020 revised Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses (PRISMA) framework to systematically evaluate and identify 583 articles sourced from esteemed academic databases, including Scopus and Web of Science, as well as seven reputable publishers and digital libraries, for subsequent analysis and synthesis. The identified 583 papers on SDGs, authored by 1610 scholars and published in 207 peer‐reviewed sources, are analyzed using VOSviewer and R Studio software. The analysis reveals the existence of nine independent clusters of SDGs business research: artificial intelligence and digitalization (red cluster), business collaboration (green cluster), corporate sustainability (blue cluster), circular economy and corporate social responsibility (yellow cluster), entrepreneurship and innovation (purple cluster), education for developing countries (aqua‐cluster), climate change and tourism (orange‐cluster), Africa perspectives (brown cluster), and sustainable investment (black cluster). This review highlights the foundation of the business studies debate linked to the advancement of the SDGs after the adoption by the United Nations. Key insights, future research directions and conclusion including implications are discussed.

This paper examines and compares the role of male financial experts (MFEs) and female financial experts (FFEs) of the Audit Committee (AC), on sustainability performance using a sample of listed firms in the United States from 2010 to 2021. The results show that although both MFEs and FFEs influence sustainability performance, FFEs have statistically greater influence than MFEs. The results also show that FFEs have greater influence across all three pillars of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. Further analyses suggest that if an AC has single-gender financial expertise (only MFEs or only FFEs), this is detrimental to the firm’s sustainability performance. The results also show that although having a gender-diverse AC is beneficial, the benefit is greater if the females on the AC are financial experts. These results may also partly explain the inconclusive findings of earlier studies on the influence of financial expertise on sustainability performance. The results remain consistent under a battery of robustness tests. Overall, the study highlights the need for ACs to have diverse financial experts from the perspective of non-financial reporting and adds to justifications for increasing calls for diversity on boards.

Purpose
This study aims to examine the relationship and effect of integrated reporting (IR) quality on sustainability performance and explore the relationships and effects of corporate governance mechanisms on IR quality and sustainability performance.

Design/methodology/approach
Partial least squares structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) was used in a longitudinal study by following the steps in Roemer’s Evolutionary Model on a sample of listed companies on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in South Africa for a period from 2011 to 2016.

Findings
This study finds board effectiveness and external audit quality to be important determinants of IR quality. It also observes a strong effect of the IR quality on sustainability performance.

Originality/value
This study contributes by using and analysing a longitudinal data set from JSE, currently the only capital market globally requiring the mandatory IR application since 2010.

Purpose: This study examines the effect of the environmental sensitivity of firms on the relationship between integrated reporting (IR) quality and sustainability performance. Prior research works focus on the nexus between IR quality and sustainability performance with little attention to factors that moderate this relationship.

Design/methodology/approach: Ordinary least squares (OLS) and other robust estimations are employed to analyse the data of firms on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE).

Findings: This study finds a positive association between IR quality and sustainability performance. However, the strength of this relationship is found to be weaker among environmentally sensitive firms, thereby raising concerns that such firms may be reporting less sustainability information with the mandatory implementation of IR on the JSE.

Practical implications: The findings highlight the need for regulatory bodies to consider additional sustainability disclosure requirements for firms in environmentally sensitive industries.

Social implications: The findings should make regulatory bodies aware of the possible actions of environmentally sensitive firms in relation to sustainability information within a mandatory setting of IR.

Originality/value: The study extends the existing literature on IR and sustainability performance by considering the effect of firm environmental sensitivity as a moderating factor.

Over the past seven years, the advancement of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is gaining increasing attention in the African context. Consistent with this effort, the present study aims to review the existing literature systematically to document contribution and methodological gaps. Specifically, the review systematically explores, through bibliometric literature and systematic method reviews, authors, countries, cited papers, journals, author's keywords, topic dendrogram, and methodological choices of papers associated with Africa SDGs scholars. The R Studio software is used to analyze 200 papers on SDGs, authored by 606 scholars and published in 102 peer-reviewed leading sources between 2015 and 2022. The results reveal that SDGs literature in Africa is an imminent study area, and there are two main strands of literature advancing SDGs in Africa: (1) business growth, entrepreneurship, and poverty reduction, and (2) renewable energy, tourism, and ICT. Key findings from the analysis of the papers are discussed, and implications for future research directions consisting of research questions, research methods and designs, and SDGs research are provided.
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This paper examines and compares the role of male financial experts (MFEs) and female financial experts (FFEs) of the Audit Committee (AC), on sustainability performance using a sample of listed firms in the United States from 2010 to 2021. The results show that although both MFEs and FFEs influence sustainability performance, FFEs have statistically greater influence than MFEs. The results also show that FFEs have greater influence across all three pillars of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance. Further analyses suggest that if an AC has single-gender financial expertise (only MFEs or only FFEs), this is detrimental to the firm's sustainability performance. The results also show that although having a gender-diverse AC is beneficial, the benefit is greater if the females on the AC are financial experts. These results may partly explain the inconclusive findings of earlier studies on the influence of financial expertise on sustainability performance. The results remain consistent under a battery of robustness tests. Overall, the study highlights the need for ACs to have diverse financial experts from the perspective of non-financial reporting and adds to justifications for increasing calls for diversity on boards.