Imen Khanchel

This study investigates the impact of Corporate Social Responsibility disclosure (CSRD) on the price discovery efficiency of 220 non‐financial firms listed on stock exchanges across 10 MENA countries from 2010 to 2022. We analyze how CSRD influences the speed at which new information is incorporated into stock prices. Our findings indicate that global CSRD and all CSRD components (environmental disclosure, social disclosure, human rights disclosure and employee disclosure) decrease pricing efficiency by amplifying information asymmetry. We conclude that CSRD acts as noise rather than a credible signal. Additionally, our study shows that foreign directors exert a beneficial moderating effect on the relationship between CSRD (including the overall CSRD measure and the four components) and price discovery efficiency. Finally, foreign shareholders serve as a positive moderator in the relationship between CSRD (including the overall CSRD measure, environmental disclosure component, and employee disclosure component) and price discovery efficiency.

Purpose: This study examines the impact of digital service transformation on bank risk in Arab banking systems across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. Design/methodology/approach: Using a sample of 157 banks over the period 2008–2021, we construct a bank-level digital service transformation index based on keyword textual analysis of annual reports. Endogeneity is addressed through a two-stage least squares estimation with instrumental variables. Findings: Our findings show that digital service transformation significantly reduces bank risk. This risk-mitigating effect is amplified during the COVID-19 crisis, is stronger in foreign-owned banks and is more pronounced for conventional banks than for Islamic banks. Originality/value: Unlike prior studies relying on aggregate indices that include digital foundation with digital service, our measure captures the risk-reducing effect of digital services that banks can deploy through third-party arrangements without necessarily owning the underlying technological infrastructure. In addition, the study contributes to the literature by highlighting the role of contextual contingency factors, such as ownership structure, banking model, and crisis conditions.

This study aims to explore how oil and gas firms adopt two sustainability tools, namely green innovation and corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure, either separately or in combination, to mitigate financial risk. The empirical study examines a sample of 229 oil and gas firms over the 2010 to 2019 period. The results show that adopting green innovation or enhancing the CSR disclosure strategy through increasing the overall CSR score or the environmental score increases financial risk. However, enhancing social disclosure decreases financial risk. The combined effect of implementing both green innovation and CSR disclosure in oil and gas firms results in a more substantial increase in financial risk. Additional tests show that breaking down the CSR disclosure score into its individual components shows that environmental disclosure is positively linked to financial risk, while social disclosure exhibits a negative association. Moreover, integrating social or governance disclosure with green innovation serves to mitigate financial risk, whereas combining environmental disclosure with green innovation exacerbates financial risk. Notably, the combined impact of sustainability tools on financial risk is particularly pronounced in pure oil firms. For worse players (firms with high carbon intensity), the adoption of one or both sustainability tools increases financial risk more than for better players (firms with low carbon intensity), reflecting their greater exposure to regulatory and market pressures. Lastly, the results show that the overall conclusions remain consistent during pre‐oil crisis and post‐oil crisis periods; however, they do not hold significance during the oil crisis.

This paper investigates how carbon emissions create trading costs in stock markets and why executive psychology matters for this relationship. Using 387 U.S. firms from the S&P 500 index over 2010–2021, we find that carbon emissions reduce stock liquidity by increasing information asymmetry, inducing stakeholder divestment, and threatening corporate legitimacy. Direct emissions (scope 1) create the strongest liquidity penalties because they signal immediate regulatory exposure and operational carbon intensity. However, overconfident CEOs mitigate these negative effects through enhanced environmental communication, credible innovation signaling, and proactive stakeholder engagement—mechanisms that reduce market uncertainty despite high emission levels. Our analysis of international climate agreements reveals that during the Kyoto Protocol's first phase (2010–2012), markets primarily penalized direct emissions, while the second phase (2013–2020) saw broader investor pricing across emission types. During the Paris Agreement's pre‐commitment phase (2010–2015), regulatory uncertainty led to negative market reactions, but the commitment phase (2016–2019) transformed emissions from risk factors into operational concerns as regulatory clarity emerged. Finally, high‐emission industries show more pronounced liquidity effects, confirming that carbon risk pricing varies with sectoral environmental exposure.

This study investigates the effect of green innovation on environmental performance and the moderating role of ownership structure. A generalized method of moments regression approach was applied to a sample of 68 firms operating in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), observed from 2012 to 2024. The results indicate a significant and positive relationship between green innovation and environmental performance. In addition, institutional and state ownership strengthen this relationship. Splitting the sample according to key UAE characteristics (firms listed on the Abu Dhabi Securities Exchange versus the Dubai Financial Market, and the pre-UAE Vision versus post-UAE Vision period) as well as economic conditions (COVID-19) provides further interesting results. Our findings remain robust across alternative estimation methods. The results show significant differences in how ownership structures moderate green innovation effectiveness across the two markets. We also find that green innovation’s effectiveness on environmental performance significantly intensifies after the UAE Vision’s announcement. Our findings also indicate that the positive impact of green innovation on environmental performance becomes more pronounced in the post-COVID period. This paper provides an in-depth assessment of the role of sustainable tools (particularly green innovation) in enhancing environmental performance in the United Arab Emirates. It offers valuable insights for board members, CEOs, regulators, and policymakers who remain undecided or hesitant about implementing sustainability-oriented practices.