Abstract:

Several studies have tried to observe the cost-benefit of ESG disclosure but most of them focus on developed countries, whereas developing and transition countries also need an understanding of this disclosure, so this study will expand the sample to five developing countries in ASEAN. The benefits that will be examined in this study are related to the value of the company. ESG disclosure can enhance firm value because it provides an understanding of important aspects related to company activities. This allows the investor to know the best-managed companies so they can give a premium value for those companies. Based on this explanation, ESG disclosure is expected to positively affect the value of the company. This study will also analyze the effect of company characteristics, namely ownership structure, on the relationship of ESG disclosure and firm value. The difference between family and nonfamily firms characteristic is the reason why this analysis is important. As we know, family firms have greater information asymmetry than nonfamily firms and this condition is related to a greater level of disclosure in family firms. Therefore, ESG disclosure in family companies is expected to be more comprehensive  so that the positive influence on the value of the company is higher. Our final sample is 492 firms in ASEAN 5 countries that have the complete required data available in Thomson Reuters Datastream. We collect all the required data in dollar currency and use least suqare regression model to analyze these data. The results of this study indicate that ESG disclosure provides benefit to companies that publish it. Unfortunately, we did not find ownership structure affected this benefit.