Impact of corporate governance on environmental, social, and governance disclosure: Any difference between financial and non-financial companies?

This study investigates the potential impact of corporate governance on environmental, social, and governance (ESG) disclosure by differentiating between financial and non-financial companies. Panel data regressions were applied to estimate these impacts using a sample of UAE-listed firms during the period 2010-2019. In the estimations, different subsamples of financial and non-financial companies were considered. The empirical results vary across financial and non-financial companies but provide overall evidence of the positive impacts of institutional ownership, foreign ownership, board independence, and board diversity on ESG disclosure for both financial and non-financial companies. Managerial ownership, blockholder ownership, and board size are negatively associated with non-financial companies' ESG disclosure. This study is the first to provide a better understanding of the most effective UAE corporate governance mechanisms and the important role of ownership structure and board of directors in increasing ESG disclosure by differentiating between financial and non-financial companies.