Table 1 Control variables Variable... | Emerald Publishing

Table 1

Control variables

Variable	Definition and measurement	Theoretical framework	Supporting references
SIZE	Natural log of total assets at the balance date	Agency theory	Hamed et al. (2023), Barros et al. (2023), Fonseka and Richardson (2023), Khan et al. (2025)
LEV	Total liabilities divided by total assets at the balance date	Contract theory	Athari et al. (2016), Barros et al. (2021), Sun and Yu (2022), Barros et al. (2023), Fonseka and Richardson (2023), Hamed et al. (2023), Hoang and Nguyen (2024), Liang and Chen (2024), Almulhim et al. (2024)
TobinQ	Market Value of Assets/Book Value of Assets	Contract theory	Sun and Yu (2022), Fonseka and Richardson (2023), Barros et al. (2023), Liang and Chen (2024)
ROA	Return on total assets at the balance date	Signalling theory	Athari (2021), El-Helaly and Al-Dah (2022), Sun and Yu (2022), Fonseka and Richardson (2023), Hoang and Nguyen (2024), Almulhim et al. (2024)
ROE	Return on total equity at the balance date	Signalling theory	Anwer et al. (2021), Barros et al. (2023), Liang and Chen (2024)
AGE	Years of the establishment of the enterprise	Legitimacy theory	Athari (2022), Sun and Yu (2022), Hoang and Nguyen (2024)
BGD	Board gender diversity, measured as the percentage of female directors across the board	Agency theory	Hoang and Nguyen (2023), Hoang and Nguyen (2024), Sebastianelli et al. (2025)

Variable	Definition and measurement	Theoretical framework	Supporting references
SIZE	Natural log of total assets at the balance date	Agency theory	Hamed et al. (2023), Barros et al. (2023), Fonseka and Richardson (2023), Khan et al. (2025)
LEV	Total liabilities divided by total assets at the balance date	Contract theory	Athari et al. (2016), Barros et al. (2021), Sun and Yu (2022), Barros et al. (2023), Fonseka and Richardson (2023), Hamed et al. (2023), Hoang and Nguyen (2024), Liang and Chen (2024), Almulhim et al. (2024)
TobinQ	Market Value of Assets/Book Value of Assets	Contract theory	Sun and Yu (2022), Fonseka and Richardson (2023), Barros et al. (2023), Liang and Chen (2024)
ROA	Return on total assets at the balance date	Signalling theory	Athari (2021), El-Helaly and Al-Dah (2022), Sun and Yu (2022), Fonseka and Richardson (2023), Hoang and Nguyen (2024), Almulhim et al. (2024)
ROE	Return on total equity at the balance date	Signalling theory	Anwer et al. (2021), Barros et al. (2023), Liang and Chen (2024)
AGE	Years of the establishment of the enterprise	Legitimacy theory	Athari (2022), Sun and Yu (2022), Hoang and Nguyen (2024)
BGD	Board gender diversity, measured as the percentage of female directors across the board	Agency theory	Hoang and Nguyen (2023), Hoang and Nguyen (2024), Sebastianelli et al. (2025)

Source(s): Authors' own work