article · Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management
An analysis of 149 Chinese and 158 American high-pollutant manufacturing firms between 2000 and 2022 examines how governance structures and financing decisions influence sustainability footprint disclosure. Board characteristics exhibit varied effects on corporate reporting behaviour. Structural factors such as larger board sizes and CEO duality increase disclosure, whereas greater board independence reduces it. Regarding diversity, age and gender diversity correlate positively with sustainability disclosure, but the presence of foreign nationals has a negative relationship. For board processes, frequent board meetings encourage disclosure, while longer board tenure discourages it. In terms of capital, both debt financing and equity financing are positively linked to disclosure rates. Crucially, the adoption of eco-technology magnifies the positive impacts that governance and financing decisions have on transparency, demonstrating that technical and corporate mechanisms interact directly to drive environmental reporting.
For investors, regulators, and communities, understanding what drives heavily polluting corporations to reveal their true environmental impact is critical. The findings show that corporate transparency relies not just on board composition and access to capital, but also on environmental technology. These insights help stakeholders identify which corporate structures and technological investments are most effective at encouraging transparent sustainability reporting.
This research represents early-stage analytical evidence relevant to corporate leadership, environmental governance consultants, and regulatory bodies. It provides strategic direction for restructuring corporate boards and deploying green financing programmes within manufacturing sectors. Although it does not present a deployable commercial product, it indicates that investments in eco-technology directly amplify the transparency benefits of corporate governance reforms, offering a clear rationale for technology uptake in industrial compliance contexts.
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ABSTRACT In a race toward a sustainable future, corporate actions speak louder than words but what drives firms to reveal their true environmental impact? This study uncovers how governance structures and financing decisions shape sustainability footprint disclosure (SFD) among high‐pollutant manufacturing firms in China and the US while exploring the pivotal role of eco‐technology in magnifying these effects. Drawing on agency and resource‐based theories, we dissect governance into structural, diversity, and process attributes, analyzing data from 149 Chinese firms and 158 US firms from 2000 to 2022. We found robust evidence that, regarding the structural attributes board size and CEO duality positively influence SFD, whilst board independence negatively impacts on SFD. Moreover, the diversity attributes such as age diversity and gender diversity recorded a positive link with SFD whilst foreign nationals recorded a negative link with SFD. In addition, process attributes such as board meetings recorded a positive link with SFD whilst board tenure recorded a negative link with SFD. Financing decisions such as debt financing and equity finance are positively linked to SFD. Notably, eco‐technology strengthens the relationship between governance, financing, and SFD. These findings highlight the vital role of corporate boards in shaping sustainability outcomes, offering key insights for policymakers to foster innovation and implement stringent environmental regulations that enhance governance and transparency.
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DOI: 10.1002/csr.3092
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