The Effect of Corporate Governance on the Board of Directors’ Characteristics and Sustainability Disclosure: An Empirical Study from Thailand

The objective of this research is to investigate how the board of directors’ characteristics influence sustainability disclosures with the mediating effect of corporate governance. The independent variables are the characteristics of the board of directors, which consist of the presence of women on the boards, presence of directors aged over 50 years old, education level, education field, board tenure, and compensation. The dependent variable is sustainability disclosures, which is measured by the GRI standard disclosure, whereas the mediator variable is the CG score. Research samples are 460 companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET). Path Analysis is used to examine the correlation between the board of directors’ characteristics, CG score, and GRI standard disclosure. The research findings show that senior boards, the education field, and compensation motivation have an effect on sustainability disclosures, whereas corporate governance is a mediator of the effect of the education field of boards on sustainability disclosures. This finding should help shareholders to choose individuals with suitable characteristics to serve on the board of directors, and, as a result, shareholders should anticipate a profitable result to be generated, while the business of the company is conducted in a sustainable way.