Foreign attributes and climate change disclosure

Climate change is posing a significant global challenge, requiring organizations to improve transparency through strong disclosure practices to maintain legitimacy with stakeholders. This study examines the impact of foreign attributes on climate change disclosure, focusing on four dimensions namely foreign ownership, board members, women, and Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Data were collected from listed banking companies in Southeast Asia during 2018–2022, leading to 307 observation units. The results found that foreign ownership and board members negatively influenced climate change disclosure; while, the presence of foreign women had a positive impact. Furthermore, the study did not find a significant effect on foreign CEO. These conclusions were further validated using the Heckman two-stage model, monotonic test, and alternative measurements. The analysis was the first to provide comprehensive empirical evidence on the effect of foreign attributes in the context of climate change disclosure, offering valuable empirical and practical insights into the critical area.