State ownership as a moderator in the relationship between board characteristics and ESG performance: evidence from Asia-Pacific markets

Purpose This paper examines how state ownership moderates the relationship between board characteristics and ESG performance in the Asia-Pacific region, emphasizing institutional contingencies often overlooked in emerging market governance research. Design/methodology/approach The study uses an unbalanced panel of 1,175 publicly listed firms across 14 Asia-Pacific economies from 2010 to 2022. Two-way firm and year fixed-effects regressions with interaction terms are applied, complemented by robustness checks including Mundlak adjustments, cross-equation diagnostics and disaggregated ESG pillar analysis. ESG performance is measured using Refinitiv Eikon data. Findings Board independence, gender diversity and transparency positively affect ESG performance. State ownership moderates these effects: in SOEs, the impact of board size and gender diversity is reduced, while transparency becomes more influential, particularly for governance outcomes. CEO duality negatively affects ESG, though the effect is weaker in state-owned firms. These results indicate that board effectiveness is contingent on ownership and institutional context. Research limitations/implications The binary coding of state ownership may mask variations in control and influence. Future studies should examine more nuanced ownership types and dynamic changes over time. Originality/value The study uniquely integrates ownership identity into the corporate governance–ESG nexus, showing that the effectiveness of board mechanisms depends on state ownership in Asia-Pacific markets. It contributes to theory on governance-context contingencies and offers practical insights for policy and corporate stewardship.