Steering the helm of sustainability: the role of sustainability committees and female directors

Purpose The purpose of this study is to investigate the role of sustainability committees (SCs) and CEO attributes (i.e. tenure, age, shareholdings and duality) in driving SDG disclosure breadth among Malaysian publicly listed firms. Furthermore, this study examines the moderate role of female board directors between SCs and CEO attributes to influence corporate SDG outcomes. Design/methodology/approach This study uses a panel data set of 1,958 firm-year observations from Malaysian listed firms (2018–2021). Sustainability data were hand-collected from sustainability reports, while financial and governance data were extracted from annual reports and Capital IQ. Fixed-effects regression with robust standard errors and system GMM estimation were applied to address endogeneity and ensure robustness of results. Findings The results of this study indicate that the presence of SCs significantly enhances the SDG disclosure breadth among Malaysian listed firms. Furthermore, the female director has a direct positive impact on increasing the SDG disclosure breadth. Originality/value This study is original in three ways. First, this study offers the first large-sample evidence (1,958 firm-years, 2018–2021) on how SCs shape firms’ SDG disclosure breadth in Malaysia’s emerging-market setting. Second, this paper uniquely tests the moderating role of board gender diversity, showing that SC amplify the contribution of female directors to SDG outcomes. Third, this study triangulates fixed-effects estimates with system GMM to address endogeneity, using hand-collected SDG measures from sustainability reports. Collectively, this study identifies governance mechanisms that advance SDG performance and informs Malaysian governance reforms and investor stewardship.