Economic Policy Uncertainty and Corporate Sustainability Disclosure: Evidence from Developing Economies

John Ogwo Madukwe

Abstract

Researchers increasingly recognise economic policy uncertainty (EPU) as a key determinant of corporate disclosure behaviour. Yet they have largely overlooked its relationship with corporate sustainability disclosure (CSD) in Sub-Saharan Africa. This study investigates the effect of EPU on CSD using a balanced panel dataset of 170 listed firms from Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa over the period 2015 to 2024 (850 firm-year observations). Employing a fixed-effects panel regression framework augmented with generalised method of moments (GMM) estimation to correct for endogeneity, the results reveal that EPU exerts a statistically significant and economically meaningful negative effect on corporate sustainability disclosure (β = −0.1843; p < 0.001). Firm size (β = 0.6214; p < 0.001), profitability (β = 0.3147; p < 0.001), board size (β = 0.4823; p < 0.001), and institutional ownership (β = 0.2741; p < 0.001) emerge as significant positive determinants of CSD, while leverage exerts a significant negative effect (β = −0.0891; p < 0.05). Sub-group analyses by country confirm the negative EPU–CSD relationship across all sampled economies, with the effect being stronger in Nigeria and Ghana. Robustness checks, including GMM, random-effects FGLS, lagged EPU, sector exclusion, and sub-period analyses, corroborate the baseline findings. These results contribute to stakeholder theory, legitimacy theory, and the nascent EPU–sustainability literature, and carry practical implications for corporate boards, sustainability practitioners, and policymakers across developing economies.

10.22178/pos.129-1


Keywords


Economic Policy Uncertainty; Corporate Sustainability Disclosure; Sub-Saharan Africa; Panel Regression; Fixed Effects; Legitimacy Theory; Stakeholder Theory; Nigeria; Ghana

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Copyright (c) 2026 John Ogwo Madukwe

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