Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Causes and Effects of Corporate Social Responsibility: An Examination of Corporate Social Responsibility in Saudi Arabia(University of New England, 2024) Alhazzaa, Ateeq Mesfer; Reddy Yarram, Subba; Moss, SupawadeeThe recent adoption of sustainable development goals (SDGs) and the two-decade-long work involved in evolving these goals has led to increased attention to corporate social responsibility (CSR) in developing countries. As a United Nations (UN) member committed to achieving the SDGs by 2030, the Saudi government released its Vision 2030 economic blueprint in 2016, which includes significant environmental targets such as reducing carbon emissions. However, research is still limited because few studies have considered the causes and consequences of CSR, particularly in Saudi Arabia. The current study aims to address this gap in the literature, specifically in the context of emerging economies. This study explores how ownership structure and leadership characteristics influence environmental, social and governance (ESG) practices in the Saudi Arabian context. It also examines the effect of ownership structure, leadership and ESG performance on financial performance. In addition, this thesis focuses on assessing how ESG practices, in conjunction with ownership structure and leadership, affect financial risk in Saudi Arabia. Hypotheses for this study were devised based on various theories, existing literature and the institutional context. Data were collected from Invest ESG and the annual reports of 136 non- finance industry firms listed on the Saudi Stock Exchange between 2016 and 2020, resulting in 647 annual observations. The generalised method of moments technique was employed to manage potential endogeneity issues in panel data analysis. The findings of the first study suggest that foreign, government and managerial ownership positively affect CSR. In contrast, institutional and family ownership of businesses and frequent CEO turnover impede CSR investment. The outcomes from the second study show that institutional, foreign, family and managerial ownership—as well as leadership elements like CEO turnover and leadership experience—are likely to enhance a firm’s value when aligned with ESG practices. Such enhancements in financial outcomes could be attributed to these ownership and leadership groups recognising the value generation potential of ESG and corporate governance. Conversely, investments in environmental and social initiatives might diminish value owing to the associated expenses to make such projects viable. Finally, the third study reveals that risk-taking is reduced in Saudi firms when these firms are participating in CSR practices. Evidence from this study broadly supports the view that CSR engagement leads to diminished risk-taking in Saudi firms.12 0Item Restricted The relationship between corporate governance and Audit quality on Sustainability: A study on Saudi energy listed companies(Brunel University London, 2023-11-27) Alaamri, Yazen; Nandy, MonomitaThe study examines the influence of corporate governance on audit quality and their impact on SDGs 7 and 13, specifically focusing on Saudi energy companies. Considering recent developments in corporate governance mechanisms, such as the roles of the Board of Directors and Audit Committee, this study emphasises the importance of audit quality in promoting sound audit practices and ensuring reliable financial reporting. Consequently, it concludes that corporate governance and audit quality play a vital role in advancing SDGs 7 and 13. This research is motivated by Saudi Arabia’s challenge to diversify its energy sources within the framework of the Vision 2030 initiative, aligning with the objectives of the SDGs. The research aims to identify the specific governance challenges faced by energy companies in a region where energy is central and integrate these challenges into the broader SDG sustainable development agenda. It addresses gaps in the literature, particularly the scarcity of studies in Saudi Arabia that explore the impact of corporate governance on audit quality and the achievement of SDGs 7 and 13. Saudi Vision 2030 emphasises the importance of corporate governance, and existing studies suggest that improved corporate governance in developing countries could enhance audit quality and help achieve the SDGs. However, there is a lack of evidence-based conclusions on strengthening audit quality to meet corporate governance goals in the MENA region, including Saudi Arabia. Moreover, studying the environmental sustainability of energy companies in countries like Saudi Arabia is an urgent task. The study employs a mixed-methods approach, conducting interviews with 25 participants from the Saudi energy sector and surveying 201 participants involved in corporate governance, audit, and SDGs 7 and 13 in Saudi Arabia. This approach addresses gaps in the literature by incorporating qualitative information and being the first to include participant perspectives on overall audit quality. The theoretical framework combines agency theory and stakeholder theory to synthesise various interests and address corporate governance issues comprehensively. Methodologically, the study provides robust justification beyond purely statistical analyses. Empirical literature highlights the importance of good corporate governance and audit quality for achieving sustainability objectives related to clean energy provision and climate change mitigation. The interplay among governance, audit quality, and sustainability objectives is complex. This study’s theoretical and policy contributions are relevant for understanding the relationship between governance, audit quality, and SDGs. The evidence demonstrates the relationship between these objectives, aiding organisations and policymakers in designing effective governance frameworks and achieving sustainability goals. Overall, this study contributes to the literature by highlighting the unique challenges and opportunities for Saudi energy companies, emphasising the crucial role of corporate governance in enhancing audit quality and shaping future research and corporate strategies, and illustrating the complex interaction between good governance, improved audit quality, and achieving SDGs.49 0Item Restricted Impact of Corporate Board Structure and International Financial Reporting Standards on Voluntary Risk Disclosure and Firm Value: The Case of Saudi Arabian Listed Companies(Saudi Digital Library, 2023-06-01) Murayr, Abdulaziz Ali; Islam, SardarThe global financial crisis of 2008 and 2009, combined with the digitalisation and globalisation of business, has caused multinationals and other types of corporations to become more vulnerable to a variety of risks and dangers that can undermine or damage their performance and viability. Thus, risk disclosure has received a substantial amount of attention from academics and researchers. This study focuses on voluntary risk disclosure (VRD), which concerns the disclosure of information about risks, which is mandated by government legislation and regulations, for example, processing and technology, integrity and strategic risks. This study aims to investigate the impact of the corporate governance mechanism, ownership structure and international financial reporting standards (IFRS) on the VRD practices of listed companies in Saudi Arabia. Moreover, it investigates the impact of VRD practices on a firm’s value. More specifically, the study analyses the impact of five board composition types (board size, board independence, audit committee meetings, board expertise and gender diversity) and three types of ownership structures (foreign ownership, state ownership and family ownership) on the VRD practices of Saudi listed companies. A research model is developed using agency theory, signalling theory and voluntary disclosure theory. The research model hypothesises that each of the aforementioned factors does affect the VRD practices that are employed by Saudi listed companies.A disclosure index is devised using seven selected items to measure VRD: compliance, reputational, operational, strategic, technological, commodity and sustainability risks. The study’s sample consists of all non-financial companies that are listed on the Saudi stock exchange, otherwise known as Tadawul. Secondary data aregathered from the annual reports of 108 listed companies for 2013 to 2020. Using regression analyses, the results reveal that qualification, gender diversity, state ownership and IFRS have a significant relationship with VRD. Furthermore, the findings indicate that this form of disclosure shapes firm value, which is measured using market-to-book value and return on assets. The current research provides important insights into the extent of the VRD practices of listed companies in Saudi Arabia. This study is significant given that limited research has been published on VRD in that country. This research is essential to Saudi Arabia’s stock market and international investors. Indeed, a better understanding of the disclosures of Saudi corporations may aid investors in making sound investment decisions. Examining the correlation between risk disclosure and firm value helps to identify the possible impact of investor expectations on the level of corporate VRD. The results of this study provide practitioners and owners or managers with an understanding of the attractiveness of foreign investors and the implications that this has for their investment allocations in connection with VRDs. This study contributes by providing new evidence to the related literature, including on VRDs, corporate governance and IFRS.13 0Item Restricted CEO Personal Attributes, Time Preference, and Corporate Decisions(2023-07-03) Alosaimi, Abdulmohsen; Fairchild, Richard; Hassanniakalager, ArmanThe thesis contains three empirical studies that have been applied to the Saudi stock market regarding behavioural finance and corporate governance. To address the personal attributes of chief executives (CEOs), we design three research questions to understand and discuss how CEO overconfidence and CEO horizon may affect the decisions of non-financial listed companies. The first empirical study (chapter 3) discusses that overconfident CEOs could have a significant effect on a firm's performance by influencing financial and investment decisions according to the empirical literature. This investigational study uses a cross-sectional design to test whether CEO overconfidence affects time preferences and establishes which orientation overconfident CEOs follow. Our findings confirm that overconfident CEOs are more future-orientated which means that overconfident CEOs have greater ability to focus on the future rather than the present. The results also indicate that overconfidence is positively related to risk which is consistent with the findings of numerous academic studies. Also, the association between age and risk is negative and statistically significant. Our findings are robust following the alternative measurement's testing for CEO overconfidence, time preference, and alternative estimation techniques and endogeneity tests. The second empirical study (chapter 4) investigates the effect of CEOs’ overconfidence and CEO long-horizon on corporate leverage decisions using balanced panel data for a sample of 119 non-financial firms on the Saudi Stock Exchange (TASI) during the period 2016-2020. The chosen model is the Pooled OLS model which is employed as an analytical technique. The findings confirm that overconfident CEOs are significantly and positively related to financial leverage which indicates that overconfident CEOs tend to take likely more debt in their capital structure of firms. This study also finds evidence that firms led by CEOs who have a longer horizon are more likely to have a higher level of debt. We also establish to examine the combined influence of CEO overconfidence and CEO long horizon on corporate leverage which are found to be significant and positive. The results are robust to various tests and alternative explanations. The final empirical study (chapter 5) focuses on horizon problems that pronouncedly arise when CEOs are close to departing their position for retirement where they are more likely to focus on the short-term in order to protect their successful legacy. Overconfidence involves overestimating their skills, knowledge, abilities and likelihood of success by inflating their projected future earnings and investment returns. This paper examines the influence of CEO horizon and CEO overconfidence on the dividend policy of firms using a sample of the 119 largest Saudi listed companies during the period 2016-2020 with the expectation that CEOs approaching retirement may lead firms to pay a dividend. The findings are that short horizon CEOs positively affect the dividend policy which is consistent with our prediction. In turn, CEO overconfidence is insignificantly related to dividend policy. Our findings remain robust after testing the alternative measurement of dividend policy, alternative estimation methods, alternative measurement of CEO horizon, and following making endogeneity checks.19 0