A GCC Evidence on the Effect of Board and Audit Committee Features on CSRD: the Case of Employee and Product Information

The key objective of this study is to examine the possible association between board and audit committee (AC) features on the disclosure extent of employee and product information (EPID) by listed firms in three Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, Bahrain, Kuwait and UAE. An EPID index containing 19 items has been applied to collect suitable information from sampled firms' annual reports and Websites. A total of 255 firm-year observations through the three GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, and UAE) was used over 3-year period (2017–2019). This study employed six independent variables representing board and AC features (Board independence, CEO duality, Board size, AC independence, AC number of meetings and AC size) after statistically controlling the effects of Firm type, Firm size, and External Auditor Quality. Regression findings reveal that only independent variable used in this research are not explaining the disclosure of employee information, however, they are significantly explaining the disclosure of product information. Further, AC size is the most essential variable determining EPID.