The Mediating Role of Foreign Investor Ownership in the Relationship Between Carbon Emissions Disclosure and Corporate Financial Performance: Applied to Companies Traded in the Saudi Market

Abstract

The study aimed to test the impact of carbon emissions disclosure on Corporate ' financial performance, and the role of foreign investor ownership in enhancing this relationship on companies traded in the Saudi financial market. To achieve this goal, previous studies and related research were referred to, with an applied study conducted on a sample of (77) industrial joint-stock companies listed on the Saudi stock market during the time series (2016-2023). The data were analyzed using the statistical program IBM SPSS Version 29 depend on the linear regression analysis method to test the relationship between the variables proposed by the researcher. Corporate financial performance was measured by the return on assets rate (ROA) and the return on equity rate (ROE). An index was built to measure carbon emissions disclosure, Intermediary variable was measured by foreign investor ownership (FIO) and the control variables were measured by both company profitability (CP), company growth (CG), Heavy industry (HI), and financial leverage (LEV). Based on the results of the regression analysis, the study concluded that there is a statistically significant relationship between carbon emissions disclosure and the financial performance of Saudi industrial companies, and a statistically significant relationship between foreign investor ownership and carbon emissions disclosure, and that foreign investor ownership enhances the relationship between carbon emissions disclosure and the corporate financial performance of Saudi industrial companies. The study recommends the need to issue an accounting standard specific to carbon emissions disclosure, and the need to oblige all companies to form environmental committees within their boards of directors, with more scientific research being conducted in this area in the future.