The Relationship between Ownership Structure and Sustainability Reports Quality: Sustainability Committee as a Moderator- an Empirical Study on Corporations Listed in the Egyptian Sustainability Index S&P/EGX ESG

The research aimed to examine the moderating role of the sustainability committee on the relationship between ownership structure (institutional, administrative, foreign) and the sustainability reports disclosure quality, relying on a content analysis of a sample 30 Corporations listed in the Egyptian Sustainability Index (210 items) during the period from 2017 to 2023.
To achieve the research objectives, sustainability reports disclosure quality was measured using a composite measure of six dimensions of sustainability report quality: sustainability report balance, inclusion of comparative information from previous periods, accurate and detailed information, timely provision of the sustainability report to stakeholders, clarity of sustainability reports, and reliability of the information contained in the sustainability report. Ownership structure was also measured by the percentage of ownership pattern specified in the capital structure. The moderating variable, the role of the sustainability committee in the company, was measured by either the presence of a sustainability committee in the company or the confirmation of sustainability reports, both of which were dummy variables.
Using the SPSS statistical program, research hypotheses and developed models were tested. The study concluded that there is a positive and significant impact of the Sustainability Committee on the relationship between foreign ownership structure and the sustainability reports disclosure quality of corporations listed in the Egyptian Sustainability Index. It also concluded that there is a positive, insignificant impact of the Sustainability Committee on the relationship between managerial ownership and the sustainability reports disclosure quality, as well as an insignificant, negative impact of the Sustainability Committee on the relationship between institutional ownership and the sustainability reports disclosure quality. Further analysis demonstrated the validity of the findings, and the study concluded that there has been a positive and significant development in the form and content of sustainability reports following the issuance of the Financial Regulatory Authority's instructions in 2021.
The results have numerous implications, including enriching accounting thought and bridging a research gap related to the moderating role of the sustainability committee on the relationship between ownership structure and sustainability reports disclosure quality. It also has implications for Egyptian legislative bodies to adopt international standards related to the disclosure of sustainability or develop similar standards. It also has implications for regulatory bodies to encourage companies to implement international accounting standards related to sustainability, activate the role of sustainability committees in companies, and impose laws requiring companies to provide detailed information about the structure of sustainability committees, the number of meetings, the degree of independence enjoyed by sustainability committee members, and the need to confirm the sustainability report to instill confidence in the information it contains.