Examining the Impact of Environmental Disclosure on Financial Performance: The Moderating Role of Corporate Governance

Authors

  • Maryam Hajiali * Department of Accounting, Electronic Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran. https://orcid.org/0009-0001-0966-6832
  • Mina Sheikhi Gorjan Department of Accounting, Yadegar-e-Imam Branch, Islamic Azad University, Rey, Iran.
  • Adel Shahvali Zadeh Department of Accounting, Ardabil Branch, Islamic Azad University, Ardabil, Iran.

https://doi.org/10.22105/tqfb.v2i4.73

Abstract

Assessing corporate performance plays a critical role in economic decision-making. The relationship between Environmental Disclosure (ED) and firm performance is a significant topic in accounting research. Firm performance is influenced by multiple factors, among which ED can have a substantial impact. Financial performance is consistently considered a key indicator for evaluating a company’s condition, and various factors can affect it. This study aims to examine the relationship among ED, financial performance, and Corporate Governance (CG) in 112 companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE) and Over-the-Counter market (OTC) between 2016 and 2023. A regression correlation method was employed to test the hypotheses. The results indicate that all proposed hypotheses are supported. Specifically, overall ED has a significant impact on firm performance, and CG positively and significantly moderates the relationship between ED and firm performance.

Keywords:

Environmental disclosure, Financial performance, Corporate governance, Companies listed on the tehran stock exchange and over-the-counter market

References

  1. [1] Heidarpour, F., & Shahbazi, N. (2015). Investigating the relationship between the environmental disclosure and the corporate governance mechanisms with the relevance to value and performance. Journal of health accounting, 4(2), 39-59. (In Persian). https://doaj.org/article/92db358897b74c7380c56473b38d9f9a

  2. [2] Yang, Y., Yang, F., & Zhao, X. (2022). The impact of the quality of environmental information disclosure on financial performance: The moderating effect of internal and external stakeholders. Environmental science and pollution research, 29(45), 68796-68814. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-20553-y

  3. [3] Abgineh, M., Ghanbari, M., & Rahmani, M. (2023). Presentation of model of financial performance based on the disclosure of environmental information in companies listed on the Tehran Stock Exchange (TSE). Journal of management accounting and auditing knowledge, 12(45), 17-38. https://www.jmaak.ir/article_21400.html?lang=en

  4. [4] Jabbar Abd Ali Al-Itbi, S., Zavari Rezaei, A., & Chalaki, P. (2024). The influence of financial restatements on the quality and disclosure of voluntary activities of corporate social responsibility reporting. Journal of value & behavioral accounting, 8(16), 279-309. (In Persian). http://dx.doi.org/10.61186/aapc.8.16.279

  5. [5] Mohammadi, M. A. D., Mardani, A., Ali Khan, M. N. A., & Streimikiene, D. (2018). Corporate sustainability disclosure and market valuation in a Middle Eastern Nation: Evidence from listed firms on the Tehran Stock Exchange: Sensitive industries versus non-sensitive industries. Economic research-ekonomska istraživanja, 31(1), 1488-1511. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2018.1486722

  6. [6] Abgineh, M., Ghanbary, M., & Rahmani, M. (2023). Financial performance with emphasis on the role of environmental information disclosure. Journal of advances in environmental health research, 11(1), 53-59. https://doi.org/10.34172/jaehr.2023.07

  7. [7] Ghanbari, M., Esmaeili, F., Bargi, Z., Besati, M., Mozaffari, S. (2018). Social responsibility, financial performance and institutional ownership reporting. Journal of advanced pharmacy education & research, 8(s2), 147-151. https://japer.in/storage/models/article/HKzLZmOy7tlTZS73YEVigHMca95q5oKWMxPdSlrhsClz2qKX57rFXUrYh599/social-responsibility-financial-performance-and-institutional-ownership-reporting.pdf

  8. [8] Mahdavi, G. H., Daryaei, A. A., Alikhani, R., & Maranjory, M. (2015). The relation of firm size, industry type and profitability to social and environmental information disclosure. Empirical research in accounting, 5(1), 87-103. https://doi.org/10.22051/JERA.2015.1994

  9. [9] Tanc, A., & Gokoglan, K. (2015). The impact of environmental accounting on strategic management accounting: A research on manufacturing companies. International journal of economics and financial issues, 5(2), 566-573. https://dergipark.org.tr/en/pub/ijefi/article/352158

  10. [10] Angelia, D., & Suryaningsih, R. (2015). The effect of environmental performance and corporate social responsibility disclosure towards financial performance (Case study to manufacture, infrastructure, and service companies that listed at Indonesia Stock Exchange). Procedia-social and behavioral sciences, 211, 348-355. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.11.045

  11. [11] Lin, J., & Qamruzzaman, M. (2023). The impact of environmental disclosure and the quality of financial disclosure and IT adoption on firm performance: Does corporate governance ensure sustainability? Frontiers in environmental science, 11, 1002357. https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2023.1002357

  12. [12] Su, W., Wei, N., Yuan, Z., & Guo, S. (2023). The impact of environmental information disclosure on the efficiency of enterprise capital allocation. Sustainability, 15(14), 11215. https://doi.org/10.3390/su151411215

  13. [13] Meng, J., & Zhang, Z. (2022). Corporate environmental information disclosure and investor response: Evidence from China's capital market. Energy economics, 108, 105886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2022.105886

  14. [14] Gupta, A. K., & Gupta, N. (2020). Effect of corporate environmental sustainability on dimensions of firm performance–Towards sustainable development: Evidence from India. Journal of cleaner production, 253, 119948. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119948

  15. [15] Govindan, K., Shaw, M., & Majumdar, A. (2021). Social sustainability tensions in multi-tier supply chain: A systematic literature review towards conceptual framework development. Journal of cleaner production, 279, 123075. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123075

  16. [16] Prasad, M., Mishra, T., & Bapat, V. (2019). Corporate social responsibility and environmental sustainability: Evidence from India using energy intensity as an indicator of environmental sustainability. IIMB management review, 31(4), 374-384. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.iimb.2019.07.014

  17. [17] Chen, Y. S., Chiu, S. C., Lin, S., & Wu, K. H. (2019). Corporate social responsibility and income smoothing: Supply chain perspectives. Journal of business research, 97, 76-93. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2018.12.052

  18. [18] Atan, R., Alam, M. M., Said, J., & Zamri, M. (2018). The impacts of environmental, social, and governance factors on firm performance: Panel study of Malaysian companies. Management of environmental quality: An international journal, 29(2), 182-194. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-03-2017-0033

  19. [19] Zhao, D., Tang, Y., Liu, J., & Tillotson, M. R. (2017). Water footprint of Jing-Jin-Ji urban agglomeration in China. Journal of cleaner production, 167, 919-928. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.07.012

  20. [20] Kabir, R., & Thai, H. M. (2017). Does corporate governance shape the relationship between corporate social responsibility and financial performance? Pacific accounting review, 29(2), 227-258. https://www.emerald.com/par/article-abstract/29/2/227/317123

  21. [21] Silva, M. N. D., Lima, J. A. S. D. O., Freitas, M. A. L. D., & Lagioia, U. C. T. (2015). Determinantes do disclosure ambiental nos relatórios de empresas listadas na Bovespa. Revista Ambiente Contábil-Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte-ISSN 2176-9036, 7(2), 1-15. http://www.atena.org.br/revista/ojs-2.2.3-06/index.php/Ambiente/article/viewArticle/2465

  22. [22] Liu, M., Shi, Y., Wilson, C., & Wu, Z. (2017). Does family involvement explain why corporate social responsibility affects earnings management? Journal of business research, 75, 8-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2017.02.001

  23. [23] Menon, R. V., Sigurdsson, V., Larsen, N. M., Fagerstrøm, A., & Foxall, G. R. (2016). Consumer attention to price in social commerce: Eye tracking patterns in retail clothing. Journal of business research, 69(11), 5008-5013. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.072

  24. [24] Brigham, E. F., Houston, J. F., & Clark, D. A. (2004). Fundamentals of financial management. Cengage Learning. https://books.google.nl/books/about/Fundamentals_of_Financial_Management.html?id=m_lFAAAAYAAJ&redir_esc=y

  25. [25] Wang, Y., Li, C., Zhang, D., Wu, J., & Liu, Y. (2020). A deeper investigation of different types of core users and their contributions for sustainable innovation in a company-hosted online co-creation community. Journal of cleaner production, 256, 120397. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.120397

  26. [26] Clarkson, P. M., Li, Y., Richardson, G. D., & Vasvari, F. P. (2008). Revisiting the relation between environmental performance and environmental disclosure: An empirical analysis. Accounting, organizations and society, 33(4-5), 303-327. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.aos.2007.05.003

  27. [27] Gompers, P., Ishii, J., & Metrick, A. (2003). Corporate governance and equity prices. The quarterly journal of economics, 118(1), 107-156. https://doi.org/10.1162/00335530360535162

  28. [28] Dang, C., Li, Z. F., & Yang, C. (2018). Measuring firm size in empirical corporate finance. Journal of banking & finance, 86, 159-176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbankfin.2017.09.006

  29. [29] Vithessonthi, C., & Tongurai, J. (2015). The effect of leverage on performance: Domestically-oriented versus internationally-oriented firms. Research in international business and finance, 34, 265-280. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ribaf.2015.02.016

  30. [30] Rajan, R. G., & Zingales, L. (1995). What do we know about capital structure? Some evidence from international data. The journal of finance, 50(5), 1421-1460. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6261.1995.tb05184.x

  31. [31] Loderer, C., & Waelchli, U. (2010). Firm age and performance. https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/id/eprint/26450

Published

2025-10-02

How to Cite

Hajiali, M., Sheikhi Gorjan, M., & Shahvali Zadeh, A. (2025). Examining the Impact of Environmental Disclosure on Financial Performance: The Moderating Role of Corporate Governance. Transactions on Quantitative Finance and Beyond, 2(4), 214-226. https://doi.org/10.22105/tqfb.v2i4.73

Similar Articles

11-20 of 42

You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.