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The impact of board characteristics on integrated reporting: case of European companies

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Abstract

Within the theoretical framework of corporate governance, this article examines the impact of the characteristics of the board of directors on the level of disclosure of financial and non-financial information in integrated reporting. This effect is sensitive to national legal systems. To this end, the present empirical study was based on a sample of 431 European firms belonging to common or civil law for the period spanning 2012 and 2019. The results of the linear regressions corroborate the existence of relationships between the independence of board members, CEO duality, as well as the size of the board of directors and integrated reporting.

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None declared under financial, general, and institutional competing interests.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Economic Sciences and Management, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Ghazi Zouari & Kawther Dhifi

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  1. Ghazi Zouari
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  2. Kawther Dhifi
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Contributions

ZG and DK analyzed and interpreted the impact of the characteristics of the board of directors on the level of disclosure of financial and non-financial information in integrated reporting. This effect is sensitive to national legal systems. To this end, the present empirical study was based on a sample of 431 European firms belonging to common or civil law for the period spanning 2012 and 2019. The results of the linear regressions corroborate the existence of relationships between the independence of board members, CEO duality, as well as the size of the board of directors and integrated reporting. This study provides evidence as to the disclosure of integrated reporting and characteristics of the board directors. This chapter highlights the global need for a generally accepted set of standards for sustainability and integrated reporting practices. The authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Ghazi Zouari.

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Zouari, G., Dhifi, K. The impact of board characteristics on integrated reporting: case of European companies. Int J Discl Gov 18, 83–94 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41310-021-00105-5

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