The effect of audit committee effectiveness, internal audit size and outsourcing on greenhouse gas emissions disclosure
摘要
This study investigates the effect of audit committee effectiveness (ACE), size of internal audits (IAS), and internal audit outsourcing (IAO) on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions disclosure from the perspectives of stakeholder theory in Malaysia. The current study collected and analyzed data based on 285 observations of plantations listed in Bursa Malaysia from 2016 to 2021. The effects of ACE, IAS, and IAO on the disclosure of GHG emissions are observed using a panel data regression model. The study findings revealed a significant positive relationship between ACE, IAS, and GHG emission disclosure. Based on these results, firms that established an effective audit committee and extended their internal audit teams tended to report more GHG emissions information than other firms. Moreover, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to consider IAS and IAO when evaluating GHG emissions disclosure. Further, this study assesses firms with higher levels of GHG emissions disclosure using a new global reporting initiative and the Bursa Malaysia Sustainability Reporting Guide based on the GHG emissions disclosure checklist. This expands the existing literature on GHG emission disclosure. The current study may not accurately portray the state of GHG emission disclosure in Malaysia because of its exclusive focus on the plantation sector. As a result, future studies should examine GHG emissions disclosure in other sectors to provide new insights into GHG emissions disclosure in developing countries.