Asian Journal of Accounting Perspectives

Sustainability Disclosure, Institutional Ownership and Value of Listed Companies in Nigeria

TERYIMA SAMUEL ORSHI — 2024-12-31

Research aim: This study seeks to examine the relationship between sustainability
disclosure and the value of listed companies in Nigeria, using institutional ownership as
a moderator.
Design/ Methodology/ Approach: Data was collected from annual reports and accounts of
the firms and daily price listings of the Nigerian Exchange Group from 2014 to 2021. The
study uses the Feltham and Ohlson (1995) linear information valuation model to estimate
industry-based influence on firm value variations.
Research finding: The results show that economic and environmental disclosures as well
as institutional ownership significantly and positively impact the value of listed firms,
while social disclosure has an insignificant effect. Institutional ownership enhances the
positive effect of economic disclosure, but does not enhance the effect of environmental
disclosure on firm value, and there is no statistical evidence that it affects the impact of
social disclosure on firms’ value.
Theoretical contribution/Originality: The study uses stakeholder and legitimacy theories
to guide decision-making in sustainability disclosure and institutional ownership. It
suggests that greater transparency and accountability in sustainability reporting in Nigeria
are needed.
Practitioner/Policy implication: The study findings support regulators to mandate
sustainability disclosure, raise awareness about its benefits and impact on value, and
encourage investor participation in corporate sustainability decision-making. This would
enhance the value creation and governance process, ultimately leading to better governance
and increased firm value.
Research limitation: This study focuses only on sustainability disclosure of Nigerian
companies in selected sectors of the economy. Future studies can explore the long-term
effects of sustainability disclosures on firm value to understand whether social disclosures
yield delayed financial benefits, investigate the impact of sustainability disclosures on firm
value across different sectors in Nigeria, and explore how governance frameworks influence
the quality of sustainability disclosures and their subsequent effect on firm value.

Web-based Environmental Reporting: Evidence from Listed Manufacturing Companies in Bangladesh

MD. ZAHEDUL ISLAM — 2024-12-31

Research aim: Businesses worldwide are attempting to exhibit accountability and efficacy
in addressing the threat of severe environmental imbalances. Understanding the underlying
issues responsible for environmental disclosures in digital media is essential to improve its
status. This research investigates the environmental performance of manufacturing firms
and evaluates the corporate governance factors that affect these disclosure practices.
Design/ Methodology/ Approach: This research applies multinomial logistic regression to
deduce the nature of the connection between environmental disclosures made public on the
web on 71 disclosure aspects or issues and corporate governance by collecting information
from the websites of 193 listed manufacturing companies.
Research finding: The findings imply that board size, CEO duality, and foreign ownership
have a major impact on web-based environmental reporting.
Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study integrates legitimacy theory and agency
theory to understand the importance of efficient corporate governance in disclosing
environmental information, thereby mitigating information asymmetry and voluntarily
meeting stakeholder expectations.
Practitioner/Policy implication: Corporate governance may develop best practices to
guarantee that the online platform of voluntary environmental reporting creates a credible
environment for exposing information to end users, resulting in a more comprehensive
evaluation of company prospects.
Research limitation: This study focuses on specific corporate governance characteristics.
Other predictors can be considered to ensure better practices, such as the number of board
meetings, educational quality of board members, stakeholder activism, political intervention,
industry-specific environmental policy, etc. Moreover, longitudinal studies could offer
further insights into the relationship between governance and environmental reporting.

Enhancing the Implementation of Shariah Review Practices in Islamic Banks

MUHAMMAD NAJIB MOHD AMIN — 2024-12-31

Research aim: BThe aim of the present study is to understand how Shariah review practices
are being implemented by gathering the perceptions of Shariah officers at different Islamic
banks (IBs). This is done through analysis of similarities and differences of Shariah review
practices across different IBs.
Design/ Methodology/ Approach: Data was gathered through semi-structured interviews
with six Shariah officers, including managers and executive levels from five different IBs.
Research finding: Utilising an institutional perspective, the findings suggest that coercive
isomorphism through comprehensive guidelines on Shariah review practices promote
consistent implementation of Shariah review procedures. In addition, the findings reveal
that systematic communications of issues in Shariah review findings to the management
and reporting the final findings to a Shariah committee is crucial in minimising threats
of independence. Finally, timeliness in reporting and leveraging on other functions is
proposed to enhance the effectiveness of Shariah review practices.
Theoretical contribution/Originality: This study applies institutional theory in assessing
of how Shariah review practices are being implemented in Malaysian IBs. Comparatively,
most prior studies utilise agency theory, which considers Shariah review practices as an
oversight function in IBs.
Practitioner/Policy implication: Insights from this study underline the importance of
comprehensive guidelines on Shariah review practices. This is because they enhance the
standardisation of practices which improves the comparability, understandability, and
quality of the work performed by Shariah officers. The study also suggests that IBs revisit
their leveraging models to ensure efficient coordination of resources and improve reporting
to their Shariah committees.
Originality/value: This study contributes to the literature on the establishment of the
Shariah review function and internal modules of Shariah review practices through
normative, coercive, and mimetic isomorphisms.

Book Review: Social Stock Exchanges: Catalyst for Impact Investing?

PARVEEN KAUR HARNAM SINGH — 2024-12-31

Part of the Springer Sustainable Finance series, this book aims to fill the
gap in research on impact exchanges (IE) or social stock exchanges (SSE),
which this reviewer concurs is a “young research field.” It also targets
“under-researched” institutional investors and the extent to which they can
be matched with the alternative asset classes in social entrepreneurship.
Employing interviews with members of the European Union High-
Level Group, the author, among others, reviews the literature on current
taxonomies, the current state of SSEs, considers what it currently does well,
what can be improved, and how it impacts capital redirection in the financial
market.
With the Malaysian prime minister recently announcing the launch of
“Malaysia’s first social exchange” fronted by the Securities Commission (SC),
and its incoming framework (SC, 2024; Tay, 2024), this book has layered
appeal, from impact funders to academicians. In this region, the book acts as
a precursor to the concept of SSEs for policymakers, stakeholders, regulatory
agencies, impact funders, and even social enterprises, as well as nongovernmental
organisations exploring more structured alternative financing.
As it focuses on IEs and SSEs within the larger context of impact investing,
it should also be on the bookshelves of academicians or researchers who are
interested in the future direction of the increasingly converging intersection
of doing well and doing good, i.e., the comingling of finance and social or
environmental goals. A resurgence in adopting SSEs within Asia further makes it all the more relevant to regional policymakers, industry players
and academicians alike.