Table 2 Variable definitions, roles,... | Emerald Publishing

Table 2

Variable definitions, roles, measurement, and expected effects

Variable	Role in model	Measurement (Refinitiv eikon)	Expected sign	Key Academic sources
ESG Score (overall)	Dependent	Composite percentile score (0–100) combining environmental, social, and governance indicators	–	Disli et al. (2022), Collevecchio et al. (2025), Agnese et al. (2024), Kampoowale et al. (2024)
Environmental Score (E)	Dependent	Refinitiv percentile score based on emission, resource use, and innovation disclosures	–	Disli et al. (2022), Collevecchio et al. (2025), Agnese et al. (2024), Kampoowale et al. (2024)
Social Score (S)	Dependent	Refinitiv percentile score covering workforce, human rights, and community metrics	–	Disli et al. (2022), Collevecchio et al. (2025), Agnese et al. (2024), Kampoowale et al. (2024)
Governance Score (G)	Dependent	Refinitiv percentile score based on board structure, shareholder rights, transparency	–	Disli et al. (2022), Collevecchio et al. (2025), Agnese et al. (2024), Kampoowale et al. (2024)
Board Size	Independent	Total number of directors on the board at year-end	±	Menicucci and Paolucci (2022), Disli et al. (2022), Meeprom et al. (2024)
Board Independence	Independent	Percentage of independent non-executive directors	+	Disli et al. (2022), Menicucci and Paolucci (2022), Pham and Ho (2024)
Gender Diversity	Independent	Percentage of female directors on the board	+ (Inverted U)	Kampoowale et al. (2024), Shakil et al. (2020)
CEO Duality	Independent	Dummy (1 = CEO is also board chair or was previously; 0 otherwise)	− or ±	Meeprom et al. (2024), Romano et al. (2020)
Board Transparency	Independent	Dummy (1 = firm discloses individual board attendance; 0 otherwise)	+	Tamimi and Sebastianelli (2017), Yu et al. (2018)
Board Skills Disclosure	Independent	Dummy (1 = firm discloses age, education, or experience of directors)	+	Remo-Diez et al. (2025), Helfaya et al. (2023), Shrivastava and Addas (2014)
State Ownership	Moderator	Dummy (1 = government ownership >50% or golden share; 0 otherwise)	±	Nicolo’ and Andrades-Peña (2024), Ma and Chen (2024)
Firm Size	Control	Natural logarithm of total assets in USD	+	Postiglione et al. (2025), Bissoondoyal-Bheenick et al. (2023)
Leverage	Control	Total debt divided by total assets	− or ±	Al Kurdi et al. (2023), Shu et al. (2024), Ding et al. (2024)
Firm Age	Control	Years since legal incorporation	+	Collevecchio et al. (2025), Kim and Yang (2025), Shu et al. (2024)

Variable	Role in model	Measurement (Refinitiv eikon)	Expected sign	Key Academic sources
ESG Score (overall)	Dependent	Composite percentile score (0–100) combining environmental, social, and governance indicators	–	Disli et al. (2022), Collevecchio et al. (2025), Agnese et al. (2024), Kampoowale et al. (2024)
Environmental Score (E)	Dependent	Refinitiv percentile score based on emission, resource use, and innovation disclosures	–	Disli et al. (2022), Collevecchio et al. (2025), Agnese et al. (2024), Kampoowale et al. (2024)
Social Score (S)	Dependent	Refinitiv percentile score covering workforce, human rights, and community metrics	–	Disli et al. (2022), Collevecchio et al. (2025), Agnese et al. (2024), Kampoowale et al. (2024)
Governance Score (G)	Dependent	Refinitiv percentile score based on board structure, shareholder rights, transparency	–	Disli et al. (2022), Collevecchio et al. (2025), Agnese et al. (2024), Kampoowale et al. (2024)
Board Size	Independent	Total number of directors on the board at year-end	±	Menicucci and Paolucci (2022), Disli et al. (2022), Meeprom et al. (2024)
Board Independence	Independent	Percentage of independent non-executive directors	+	Disli et al. (2022), Menicucci and Paolucci (2022), Pham and Ho (2024)
Gender Diversity	Independent	Percentage of female directors on the board	+ (Inverted U)	Kampoowale et al. (2024), Shakil et al. (2020)
CEO Duality	Independent	Dummy (1 = CEO is also board chair or was previously; 0 otherwise)	− or ±	Meeprom et al. (2024), Romano et al. (2020)
Board Transparency	Independent	Dummy (1 = firm discloses individual board attendance; 0 otherwise)	+	Tamimi and Sebastianelli (2017), Yu et al. (2018)
Board Skills Disclosure	Independent	Dummy (1 = firm discloses age, education, or experience of directors)	+	Remo-Diez et al. (2025), Helfaya et al. (2023), Shrivastava and Addas (2014)
State Ownership	Moderator	Dummy (1 = government ownership >50% or golden share; 0 otherwise)	±	Nicolo’ and Andrades-Peña (2024), Ma and Chen (2024)
Firm Size	Control	Natural logarithm of total assets in USD	+	Postiglione et al. (2025), Bissoondoyal-Bheenick et al. (2023)
Leverage	Control	Total debt divided by total assets	− or ±	Al Kurdi et al. (2023), Shu et al. (2024), Ding et al. (2024)
Firm Age	Control	Years since legal incorporation	+	Collevecchio et al. (2025), Kim and Yang (2025), Shu et al. (2024)

Source(s): Created by authors