ความสัมพันธ์ระหว่างคุณลักษณะของประธานกรรมการบริหาร การเปิดเผยข้อมูลความยั่งยืนและราคาหลักทรัพย์ของบริษัท จดทะเบียนในตลาดหลักทรัพย์แห่งประเทศไทย

Abstract

This thesis aimed to investigate 1) quantity and quality of sustainability disclosure of the companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET); 2) relationship between Chief Executive Officer (CEO) characteristics and sustainability disclosure of the companies listed on the SET; 3) relationship between sustainability disclosure and stock prices of the companies listed on the SET; and 4) moderating effect of sustainability disclosure’s assurance towards relationship between sustainability disclosure and stock price of the companies listed on the SET. Data were gathered from the companies listed on the SET during B.E. 2558 to B.E. 2560, which consisted of 1,085 datasets in total. The study on quantity and quality of sustainability disclosure of the companies listed on the SET was conducted by measuring the sustainability disclosure index as defined in the guidelines of global standards for sustainability reporting. The sustainability information of those companies were collected from their sustainability reports; corporate social responsibility reports; annual reports and annual registration statements. Then, text of all selected reports were analyzed for tone of sustainability according to the Bill McDocnald’s Word List. The findings presented that the sustainability disclosure index being observed in all selected sources of the studied companies were averagely rated at 36%. Economic sustainability was disclosed at the highest level; followed by social and environmental sustainability, accordingly. Considering on industrial category, resource industry had the highest sustainability disclosure. Among the selected sources of sustainability information, the sustainability reports was the source where the sustainability information was disclosed at the most. In addition, the findings also revealed that in an overall view, the companies used negative tone of sustainability in their reports and the negative tone of sustainability were found in the reports of companies enlisted in the financial industry at the most. Tones of sustainability were differently observed in different sources of sustainability information. The relationship between Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) characteristics: gender, age, tenure, educational background, functional track, and shareholding proportions and the sustainability disclosure of the companies listed on the SET was evaluated by the application of multiple regression analysis. The findings presented that the CEOs with long term of tenure; or with educational background in master’s degrees or doctoral degrees; or with educational background in sciences and engineering or business fields; or with functional experience in production, engineer, and accounting tracks had positive relationship with sustainability disclosure index. Those with educational background in master’s degrees or doctoral degrees; or with educational background in sciences and engineering or business fields; or with functional experience in sales, marketing, and research and development tracks or in production, engineer, and accounting tracks had positive relationship with tone of sustainability information. The relationship between the sustainability disclosure and the stock prices of the companies listed on the SET; and the moderating effect of sustainability disclosure’s assurance towards relationship between the sustainability disclosure and the stock prices of the studied companies were evaluated by the applications of stock valuation, according to Ohlson’s model and multiple regression analysis. The findings presented that the sustainability disclosure did not correlate with the stock prices of the companies listed on the SET. Also, the sustainability disclosure’s assurance did not cause any moderating effect towards the relationship between sustainability disclosure and the stock prices of the studied companies. Results of this study shall bring benefit to the Stock Exchange of Thailand regulators as it could be referred as a guideline in determining scope of sustainability reporting; and also to administrators to select or modify sustainability content for their reports. In addition, the results of this study can be applied as a guideline in selecting CEOs with preferable qualifications of corporate social responsibility orientation to push the companies to work on the sustainability disclosure policies, which shall benefit to investment making-decision of investors. The results of this study can also be used as a reference for those who are interested in studying, analyzing, and researching further on sustainability disclosure related issues.