Effect of sustainability disclosure on financial performance of semi autonomous government agencies in Kenya

Abstract

Sustainability disclosure is crucial for modern businesses and government agencies to improve their environmental and social responsibilities. However, most public entities globally have poor financial performance, attributed to ESG practices and financial performance. This study aimed to examine the effect of environmental, social, and governance sustainability disclosure on semi-autonomous Kenyan government agencies. The research was anchored around the goal setting and used a descriptive survey research methodology. The population size was 20 selected SAGAs under different sectors in Kenya. A census was adopted where all the firms will be considered in the study. While primary data was collected using a structured questionnaire that were subjected to the top management staff of the firms. A pilot test was conducted to test the reliability and validity of the instruments. The data was then used for analysis using both descriptive and inferential statistics. Descriptively, the results showed that, majority of the respondents, agreed with most of the statements defining the effect of environmental, social and governance sustainability disclosure on financial performance of SAGAs in Kenya. Inferential analysis sought to determine whether the relationship that exists between the variables were statistically significant or not. The test was done at a 95% confidence level. The results revealed that environmental sustainability disclosure had a weak positive but statistically significant effect on the financial performance of SAGAs. In regard to social sustainability disclosure, the results showed a weak positive and significant relationship, with the financial performance of the SAGAs. The results further established a weak positive and significant correlation between governance sustainability disclosure and financial performance of SAGAs. Lastly, the results showed that the combined effect of ESG was statistically significant to financial performance of SAGAs. Based on these findings the study concludes that ESG disclosure has had an effect on the performance of SAGAs in Kenya, there for firms that look forward to enhancing their performance need to effectively consider disclosing their commitment to ensuring that they take care of the environment, the social needs and governance issues of the firm.