Browsing by Author "Wijekoon, W.M.H.N."

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The Association between Firm Specific Characteristics and Voluntary Disclosures of Non-Financial Sector in Sri Lanka
(4th International Conference for Accounting Researchers and Educators, Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Herath, C.G.H.S.M.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
The main purposes of this research are to assess the level of disclosure in the annual reports of non-financial (excluding banks finance and insurance sector) Sri Lankan firms which are listed in the Colombo stock exchange and to investigate the impact of firm specific characteristics on the extent of voluntary disclosure. A disclosure checklist consisting with 20 voluntary items was developed to assess the level of disclosure of 100 listed companies in Sri Lanka during the period 2017/2018. The association between the level of disclosure and firm specific characteristics were analyzed using E-views 8.0 statistical software package. Out of the total selected companies 58% companies have disclosed more than the mean level of disclosure index. It was found that firm size was significantly positively associated with the level of disclosure. This means that large size companies have more interest in disclosing additional information as compared to small size companies. Profit margin was also significantly positively associated, and debt was significantly negatively associated with the level of disclosure. The remaining variables, however, were found to be insignificant in explaining the variation of voluntary disclosure. The results of this study are very useful for the investment community to assist in evaluating the extent of voluntary disclosure by Sri Lankan listed firms and explaining the variation of disclosure. Further, the results provide useful insights to policy makers and regulators who want to improve voluntary disclosures in their countries
Board Characteristics & Integrated Reporting Quality – Evidence from Listed Companies in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Dilhani, A.V.H.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
Integrated reporting is the most recent innovation in the world of corporate reporting. It's a tool that can more accurately represent a company's ability to build value over time. In recent years, both professional and academic disciplines have become more aware of this reporting tool. However, despite previous studies that looked at many areas of integrated reporting, the quality of integrated reporting and the determinants that influence it are still little explored. This study, therefore, aims to bridge this gap by examining the impact of board characteristics on integrated reporting quality according to an agency theory approach. Therefore, the findings of this study offer a better understanding on the impact of board characteristics on integrated reporting quality of listed companies in Sri Lanka. Among the companies that publish integrated reports, the three companies with the highest market capitalization in all sectors of CSE are considered as sample. Accordingly, 60 companies were taken into consideration for the period from 2017 to 2020 with total number of 240 integrated reports. The data in this study were analyzed using descriptive analysis, Pearson correlation analysis, and linear multiple regression analysis. This study contributes to expanding literature in this field in various ways. First, it broadens the scope of agency theory's application. second, it reveals additional internal determinants of integrated reporting quality. Further, findings provide useful insights for practitioners, particularly for corporate executives and high-level corporate governance bodies. Moreover, findings are useful to policy makers and standard setters in revising and developing existing integrated reporting practices.
Carbon disclosures and firm performance: evidence from Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Nawarathna, N.K.S.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
Green House Gas emissions (GHG) have become one of the primary threats to life on earth. Companies are among the largest emitters of greenhouse gases, making them crucial to the fight against climate change. Therefore, companies are expected to play an increasingly important role in reducing their greenhouse gas emissions and stabilizing climate change. Businesses are required to disclose a greater amount of information about their climate change strategies and plans. The importance of carbon disclosure has grown dramatically in recent years, becoming a strategic decision making issue for organizations today. Most of the prior researchers conducted research on carbon disclosures and firm performance in the context of developed economies. However, there is limited research available from developing country context particularly. Hence, this study is aims to examine the relationship between Carbon disclosures and firm performance in the Energy and Material sector companies in Sri Lanka. Five independent variables used in the research are: GHG emissions accounting (Carbon footprint), climate change, energy consumption accounting, GHG reduction and carbon emission accountability. Return on asset (ROA) ratio has been used to measure financial performance. Sample of the study consist with all companies listed in the Energy & Material sector of the Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) in Sri Lanka. Data will be collected from annual reports of listed companies in the Energy and Material sector for the period from 2017 to 2021. Data analysis will be performed using Eviews 10 software. The correlation analysis and regression will be used to examine the relationship and to determine the effect of the independent variables on the dependent variable. Finding of the research will help to the companies to understand the benefit of carbon disclosure and the importance of carbon disclosure. Additionally, these disclosures help to stakeholders such as shareholders and creditors to make better investment decisions for a particular company.
Characteristics of Female Directors and Earnings Management: Evidence from Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Bandara, W.W.G.A.M.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
This study investigates the impact of female directors on earnings quality in a developing country which has patriarchal emerging society and a considerable gender equality gap. An analysis of previous research reveals that dearth of literatures, and no prior research has been devoted to study the relationship between earning management and female director characteristics in Sri Lanka particularly. Therefore, this study aims to fill the gap in the literatures by examine the impact of specific characteristics of female directors on earning management. Multiple regression analysis was employed to identify the association between female director characteristics and earning management. As a proxy for earning management practices, the modified Johns model was used to estimate current discretionary accruals. The study used data collected from annual reports of all non-financial companies listed in Colombo Stock Exchange for the period from 2015 to 2020. The Sample comprises of 180 nonfinancial firms and 900 firm year observations. Findings of the study provide useful insights to Sri Lankan corporates to determine the best practices of board governance and to policy makers to strengthen corporate governance practices of Sri Lanka as it has a close link with the earnings management.
Corporate Governance and Capital Structure of Listed Companies in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Dalugama, D.M.S.R.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
Firms should attempt to determine the optimal capital structure that causes the maximization of firm’s value. The primary objective of this research is to empirically examine the effect of the corporate governance on capital structure decisions of listed companies in Sri Lanka. Prior research in this area focuses more on the listed companies in developed countries and thus, limited research is available from developing country context, Sri Lanka. Moreover, prior empirical studies have been presented mix findings and have failed to identify most significant corporate governing attributes affecting capital structure. This study fills these gaps in the literature. Therefore, study aims to consider the effect of corporate governance variables such as board size, board independence, CEO duality, board meetings and gender diversity of board on capital structure decisions in Sri Lanka. The sample included one hundred listed companies in Sri Lanka and data were collected for the period from 2016 to 2020. Multiple regression analysis and correlation statistical techniques were used to estimate the impact and the relationship between corporate governance attributes and capital structure. Findings of the research are useful for leading Sri Lankan corporates, managers, students, and researchers in making their capital structure decisions.
Corporate Governance and Financial Distress: Evidence from Listed Companies in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Kumarasinghe, P.K.N.M.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
The purpose of this research is to examine the influence of corporate governance on financial distress of listed companies in Sri Lanka. An analysis of literature reveals that dearth of studies available in the context of developing countries that examine the impact of corporate governance on financial distress. The study used CEO duality, board size, board activity, board independence and gender diversity as independent variables for corporate governance and financial distress as the dependent variable. This study utilized publicly available data from annual reports of a sample of 58 financially distressed companies and a sample of matched 58 non distressed companies of Colombo Stock Exchange for a period covering from 2013 to 2021. The sample of companies comprises of all the sectors except banking, insurance and diversified financing companies. The descriptive statistics were used to estimate the comparative investigate of distressed and non-distressed companies. A binary logistic regression analysis was used to identify the impact of corporate governance on the financial distress of listed companies. The paper offers an in depth understanding on how corporate governance characteristics associated with the financial distress situation from the emerging stock market. It would be educational to potential investors, accounting professionals, corporate managements, financial analysts and be helpful for regulatory authorities in making policies for corporate governance reformation.
Corporate social responsibility and capital structure of listed companies in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Gunasinghe, W.R.N.S; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
Corporate social responsibility plays a significant role in today’s corporate world. It is a way of describing how companies control and measure their impact on the whole of society. Apart from that, the capital structure plays the main role in the business. This means that the capital structure consists of equity capital and debt capital and it describes how companies finance their operations. The prior researchers conducted research on corporate social responsibility and financial performance, corporate governance and corporate social responsibility disclosures. Given this context, there were few researches available on the impact of corporate social responsibility on capital structure particularly in developing countries. Further, there were no studies on sector comparison relating to the impact of corporate social responsibility on the capital structure of listed companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange. Therefore, to fill this gap, this study aims to analyze the impact of corporate social responsibility on the capital structure of industrial and material sector companies listed in the Colombo Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka. Further this study will provide fresh insights by comparing two sectors with regard to corporate social responsibility and capital structure. This research will use an index which consists with economic, social, and environmental activities to measure the CSR disclosures. The debt-to-equity ratio was used to measure the capital structure. This research used industrial and material sector companies as the population and 20 companies were selected from each sector as the sample for the study. Data will be collected from annual reports for the period from 2017 to 2021. E- Views analysis software will be used to analyze the data. Accordingly, the findings of this study will offer a better understanding of corporate social responsibility and the capital structure of listed companies in Sri Lanka.
Determinants of integrated reporting disclosures of award-winning IR-adopted listed companies in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Thushari, K.A.M.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
Integrated reporting adoption has been increased though it is not a mandatory requirement in many countries around the globe. However, the quality of the disclosures of IR differs between companies. Therefore, the study aims to determine what are the levels of integrated reporting disclosure alignment in annual reports by award-winning IR-adopted listed companies in Sri Lanka and to identify the factors influencing these disclosure levels. The study adopted the quantitative approach of the research. Using a disclosure index, the study assesses the extent to which firms' annual reports include the content elements mandated by the IR Framework. E-views software was used to analyze the quantitative data collected in the study and descriptive analysis, correlation, and regression analysis were performed to achieve the research objectives of the study. The sample consists of 50 award-winning listed companies in Sri Lanka and data was collected from annual reports of these companies from 2017 to 2021. The study will document that, on high, Award-winning listed firms disclose information required by the IIRC Framework. The disclosure levels will positively be associated with board size, board independence, foreign ownership, subcommittees, gender diversification, and financial acumen. The findings of the study will be useful to other non-award-winning companies to understand the characteristics of companies that won an award for IR. Further, the findings of the study provide some insights into the inclusion of the content elements required by the IIRF by the companies. The author offers policymakers recommendations based on their findings on the issue of regulating and implementing IR in Sri Lanka.
The Determinants of Integrated Reporting Quality: Special Reference to Listed Financial Institutions in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Kavindi, W.M.D.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
The stakeholders paid greater attention to the integration of financial and nonfinancial information due to the global financial crisis in 2007. In order to provide value-relevant information relating to both financial and non-financial information, in 2013, the International Integrated Reporting Council (IIRC) introduced the Integrated Reporting Framework. Though Integrated Reporting is a current new reporting frontier, there’s a greater voluntary tendency towards the adoption. This study investigates the internal determinants of Integrated Reporting quality in the financial institutions. Specifically, this study analyses the impact of profitability, firm size, leverage, corporate earning quality, female board members, external board members and the previously published Integrated Reports on the integrated reporting quality. The hypothesis was tested using a regression model on a population of 24 listed financial institutions, which prepared integrated reports during the period from 2017 to 2020. The data were tested using the E-views statistical software. The Integrated Reporting quality was measured using the scoreboard developed by Pistoni et al. (2018). This study contributes to the literature by revealing several internal determinants that influence Integrated Reporting quality. The results of this study are particularly important to the managers of the financial institutions that are adopting Integrated Reporting and anticipate adopting Integrate Reporting since they can gain a wider knowledge about which internal determinants enhance the quality of Integrate Reports.
The Effect of Corporate Governance on Carbon Emission Disclosures – Evidence from Environmentally Sensitive Listed Companies in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Randunu, M.P.M.P.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
There has been a global consensus that carbon emission is the main cause of global warming and climate change, which can have an increasing global problem due to business activities and behavior. The objective of the study is to investigate whether corporate governance attributes such as Board Size, Board Independence, Board Gender Diversity and Audit committee impact on Carbon emission voluntary disclosures of Environmentally sensitive listed companies in Sri Lanka. Most of the prior studies examine the carbon emission disclosure level of non-financial companies. However, limited research has been done on corporate governance and Carbon emission disclosures in developing countries particularly Asian countries. This gap in the literature provides the rationale for the study. The sample of the study consists of 29 listed companies for the period from 2016 to 2020. Carbon emission disclosures were measured using the carbon disclosure project index checklist developed by Choi et al. (2013). The corporate governance characteristics that influence carbon disclosures were examined using panel data regression models. The findings of the study provide information on to level of carbon emission disclosures of environmentally sensitive listed companies in Sri Lanka, which would be useful for organizations and regulatory bodies. Findings provide useful insight to policy makers for formulating necessary policies that will provide emission reduction practices for entities.
The effect of environmental reporting on financial performance of listed companies in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Kavindya, Y.H.A.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
Environmental reporting has become increasingly important in the modern corporate world since it helps modern businesses stay competitive by keeping society informed about ongoing social actions. Even though environmental reporting is not yet mandatory, the company's management will always endeavor to reveal information about the company's environmental background. However, there is dearth of literature available on environmental reporting particularly in Sri Lankan context. Hence, this study investigates the impact of environmental reporting on financial performance of listed companies in Sri Lanka. The study used three independent variables namely greenhouse gas emission, water consumption and waste disposal. Return on asset (ROA) and return on equity (ROE) used to measure the financial performance. The population includes all manufacturing companies listed in Colombo Stock Exchange (CSE) under the previous industry classification. All listed manufacturing companies were selected as the sample of the study. However, firms who did not have complete data for the relevant time period were eliminated from the sample for this analysis. The annual reports from the website of Colombo Stock Exchange, sustainability reports for the 5 years period (2017-2021) and web site of the firms were used as sources of data collection. The data were examined utilizing descriptive statistics, correlation, and multiple regression analysis. The Findings of this research will provide useful evidence for manufacturing companies in understanding the importance of functioning in a socially and responsibly manner and its impact on financial performance. Further, this research will help to the individuals to understand the concept and importance of environmental reporting and increase community understanding of the importance of making decisions based on it.
The Effect of Firm Specific Characteristics on Financial Leverage: Evidence from Listed companies in Sri Lanka
(Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2020) Nanayakkara, S.K.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
The study examines the impact of firm specific characteristics on financial leverage of listed companies in Sri Lanka. An analysis of previous research indicates gaps in the literature. Prior research on the subject provides mixed findings and therefore, comprehensive evidence is missing relating to the firm specific characteristics that impact on financial leverage. There appears to be a dearth of literature on the subject in developing and Asian countries and Sri Lanka in particular. Therefore, this study aims to fill this gap in the research by investigating the impact of firm’s characteristics on financial leverage of listed companies in Sri Lanka. Quantitative approach was adopted in the study to find answers for the research questions of the study. firm size, tangibility, profitability, and firm age were used as independent variables and Financial Leverage used as the dependent variable of the study. A fixed-effects regression technique is used to analyses data. The dataset used covers 100 non-financial companies in the Colombo Stock Exchange in Sri Lanka and collected for data for 8 year period from 2012 to 2019. Findings of the study will be useful to policy makers in developing policies on corporate finance and to managers in formulating strategies to increase firm value and performance by considering changes in firms characteristics and its impact on financial leverage. Findings also provide useful insights to managers in determining the capital structure based on firm’s characteristics.
Effect of foreign currency movement on financial statements
(Department of Accountancy, University of Kelaniya, 2014) Mathalage, M.S.P.K.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
Firm Characteristics and Level of Integrated Reporting Adoption: Evidence from Listed Companies in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Wickramasekara, H.M.S.S; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
Integrated Reporting (IR) has become a new reporting dimension in financial reporting. IR adoption among Sri Lankan companies are also increasing trend. Although Adoption of Integrated Reporting is not mandatory requirements in Sri Lanka but companies listed in Colombo Stock exchange (CSE) voluntary adopt IR for their Reporting. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the level of IR adoption of listed companies in Sri Lanka and to examine the impact of firms’ characteristics on level of IR adoption. The study used secondary data of 50 companies that won the medals from CA Sri Lankan annual report award winning competition covering the periods from 2017 to 2020. The level of IR adoption was used as the dependent variable while structure related, market related, performance related firms’ characteristics were used as independent variables. As structure related variables, firms’ listed age, leverage, ownership dispersion was considered. As performance related, profitability, total assets, total sales were considered and as market related, market value and industry type were selected. Regression analysis and E- Views packages were used to analyze the impact of firms’ characteristics on level of IR adoption. Findings of the study provide useful evidence on the level of IR adoption of listed companies in Sri Lanka and characteristics of firm that adopt IR.
Impact of Cash Conversion Cycle on Firm’s Profitability with special reference to Listed Beverage Food and Tobacco Industry and Consumer Services Industry in Sri Lanka
(Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2020) Palayangoda, I.S.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
Cash Conversion Cycle is one of the most widely used measurement to evaluate the risks and returns associated to liquidity management. Every corporate organization is extremely concerned about how to sustain and improve profitability hence they have to keep an eye on the factors affecting the profitability. Therefore the purpose of the study is to identify the impact of Cash Conversion Cycle on profitability of selected Beverage Food and Tobacco companies and Consumer service companies in Sri Lanka. Most of studies are focused to the listed companies in developed countries. Further, there is a less attention to the Beverage Food and Tobacco sector and Consumer Services companies and no previous studies have done a comparison between two sectors. Therefore this study focuses to do a comparison between Beverage Food and Tobacco sector and Consumer Services sector in Sri Lanka to fulfill that gap. The profitability which is the dependent variable of this study measured in terms of Return on Equity and Return on Assets. The Cash Conversion Cycle is determined by Inventory Conversion Period, Debtor Conversion Period, and Payable Conversion Period. The sample includes twenty Beverage Food and Tobacco companies and twenty Consumer services companies and data were collected for the period from 2015 to 2019. In this study, regression and correlation statistical techniques are used to estimate the impact and the relationship between CCC and profitability. Findings of the study will be of interest to stakeholders of the company including managers in making their decisions.
Impact of Corporate Governance and Audit Quality on Earnings Management: Evidence from Listed Companies in Sri Lanka
(Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2020) Hettihewage, L.S.S.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
Financial statements are the most important source of information for investor decisions and the most significant variable that attracts attention is earnings of the company. Earnings management is a manipulation tool used by the preparers of the financial information and this has a significant impact on the decision made by the investors. This study examines the impact of Corporate Governance and Audit Quality on Earnings Management in the Listed Companies in Sri Lanka. Several prior studies have examined this relationship in developed countries. However, there is dearth of literature available in the Sri Lankan context. Moreover, the extant literature provides mixed results and therefore, comprehensive evidence is missing relating to the subject. This study contributes to the existing literature by integrating both corporate governance and audit quality on earnings management which is an under researched area. This study adopts a quantitative research approach that analyses secondary data extracted from the audited financial statements of a sample of 50 nonfinancial companies using a random sampling technique. The main source of data was the audited annual reports of the sample companies, issued during 2014/15 to 2018/19. Descriptive statistics, correlation analysis and multiple regressions are used to analyze the quantitative data of the study. The findings of this study are useful to the investors to be mindful about relying on financial statements in decision making. Moreover, examining the effectiveness of the corporate governance practices will be of interest to the owners of the business in executing corporate governance mechanisms. The findings provide useful insights to regulators, policy makers and professional accounting bodies to better regulate the quality of audit services performed.
Impact of Corporate Governance on Capital Structure Decisions of the Listed Companies in Sri Lanka
(Department of Accountancy, Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2020) Weerasinghe, W.P.U.D.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
The objective of the study is to investigate whether corporate governance attributes such as board size, outside directors, CEO duality, Board experience, and director remuneration impact on capital structure decisions of listed companies in Sri Lanka. Most of the prior studies examined the relationship between corporate governance and performance of listed companies. However, limited research has been done on corporate governance and capital structure decisions in developing countries particularly in Asian and Sri Lankan context. This gap in the literature provides the rationale for the study. The sample of the research includes 50 companies from material and Food, Beverage & Tobacco sector. Data were collected from annual reports of companies for five year period. The findings indicate that the size of the board, external directors and the experience of the board are positively related to the overall debt ratio and the long-term debt ratio, while the remuneration of directors is negatively related. The duality of CEO is negatively linked to the long-term debt ratio. CEO duality in all regressions is considered strongly negligible. Total debt ratio and the long-term debt ratio are negatively related to control variables such as profitability and liquidity, while firm size is positively related. The tangibility of assets is linked positively to the long-term debt ratio and negatively to the total debt ratio. While Sri Lankan firms, relative to firms in developed countries, have poor internal and external corporate governance structures, the empirical findings indicate that corporate governance characteristics partially explain the financing actions of Sri Lankan firms. The empirical findings of this study provide useful insights to corporate managers in building an appropriate capital structure and regulatory authorities in enacting legislation and improving institutional support to make the country's corporate governance structures function more efficiently. This study contributes to the literature by providing empirical evidences from a developing country, Sri Lanka.
The Impact of Corporate Governance on Firm Performance: Evidence from Listed Finance Companies in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2021) Menikbowa, M.S.P.K.N.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
Corporate governance has become a popular discussion topic in developed countries as well as developing countries due to numerous corporate failures, scandals and frauds occurred around the world. In the existing literature, it was found that authors have studied the impact of corporate governance characteristic on firm financial performance. However, studies of the above relationship in particularly unstable and there is paucity of research of Sri Lanka specially related to listed finance companies. Further, studies which examine the gender impact on firm performance is limited. Board size, Board meetings, Proportion of non-executive directors, CEO duality, Females’ directors in board and Education level in board were used as proxies for the corporate governance variables and return on equity and return on assets were used as dependent variables which denote the firm performance. The sample of the study comprises of 31 listed finance companies in Sri Lanka which assets-based value is greater than Rs. 10 billion. All the data were obtained from published annual reports over the period of five years from 2015 to 2020 and data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics and regression analysis. This study provides useful findings to stakeholders in providing suggestions to improve corporate governance practices of the Finance companies which may help to enhance the performance. Further, investors have the opportunity to draw conclusions when making their investment decisions.
The impact of corporate governance on greenhouse gas disclosures of listed companies in the material & energy sector in Sri Lanka
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Sachinika, J.D.T.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
There has been a global consensus that Greenhouse Gas emissions including carbon dioxide are the main cause of climate change and global warming, which can have a significant impact on business activity and behavior. Thus, carbon information has become important for stakeholders to make an informed decision about a company’s greenhouse emissions performance. However, there is criticism that companies tend to disclose some unreliable climate change related information. It can be argued that corporate governance plays a critical role in determining how companies are responding to climate change. This is because companies that have a high quality of corporate governance are more likely to integrate climate change into their business strategy and are more likely to maintain the long term commitment to effectively address climate change risks and opportunities across their entire operating system. This study investigates the impact of corporate governance mechanisms on greenhouse gas emission disclosures. Numerous studies have been undertaken to find the impact of corporate governance on greenhouse gas disclosures in developed countries. However limited research available in developing country context particularly in Sri Lanka. Hence the purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of corporate governance on greenhouse gas disclosures of the listed energy & material companies in Sri Lanka. This research will use the board size, board gender diversity, board activities and CEO duality to measure the corporate governance of the organization and profitability and liquidity ratios are used as the control variables. Discloser level is measured by Greenhouse gas Discloser Index. Twenty seven listed companies from Sri Lankan material and energy sector have been selected as the sample of the study. The data of the study were collected using annual reports, Carbon Disclosure Project, sustainability reports, and corporate websites from the period 2016 to 2021.Data will be analyzed using study, descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis, and regression analysis.
The impact of corporate governance on the level of sustainability reporting in selected Sri Lankan listed companies
(Faculty of Commerce and Management Studies, University of Kelaniya Sri Lanka, 2022) Wimalarathna, Y.G.R.D.; Wijekoon, W.M.H.N.
This study aims to analyze the impact of corporate governance on the level of sustainability reporting in Sri Lankan listed companies. Most of the prior research has been devoted to studying the impact of corporate governance on firm performance and only limited research has been undertaken to study the impact of corporate governance on sustainability reporting particularly in the context of developing countries such as Sri Lanka. This gap in the literature provides the rationale for the study. Corporate governance attributes such as Board Size, Board Independence, Frequency of Board Meetings, CSR Committee, and ESG Reporting have been used as independent variables of the study. The sample of the study consists of 50 listed Sri Lankan companies consecutively recognized for their sustainability reports by professional accounting bodies. Data was collected from the sustainability disclosures in the annual reports of the selected companies for the four years from 2017 to2021. The state of sustainability reporting for each company for each year was computed by scoring the GRI – GR core disclosures included in annual reports using a one-zero ordinal scoring model. Trend analysis was conducted for each company and all 50 companies based on the calculated state of sustainability disclosure and multiple regressions were conducted to identify the impact of corporate governance on the level of sustainability reporting disclosures of selected companies. The findings of the research will be useful to companies in understanding the importance of corporate governance practices that enhance the sustainability practices of companies.