Audit committee features and ESG disclosure: Evidence from Vietnam listed companies

Abstract

The study aims to investigate the impact of audit committee (AC) characteristics on the level of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) disclosure. The study investigated 200 annual reports and sustainability reports of 50 Vietnam listed firms for the period from 2018 to 2021. Content analysis and multiple regression methods are used to test the relationship between AC features and ESG disclosure. Empirical results show that the AC size, the frequency of meetings, the proportion of independent AC members, financial expertise and gender diversity positively influence ESG disclosure level, while the independence of AC chair and the proportion of shares owned by AC members are found to have no impact on ESG reporting. Research findings are of interest to business leaders as well as policymakers and regulators with regard to the improvement in ESG information transparency.