Sustainability-driven intellectual capital model in carbon disclosure: Insights from PLS-SEM

Growing expectations from regulators and stakeholders have intensified the demand for greater transparency in corporate environmental performance. However, limited empirical evidence explains how firms’ internal sustainability skills and digital capacities shape carbon-related disclosure outcomes. To address this gap, this study develops a sustainability-driven intellectual capital model that reinterprets conventional green intellectual resources within a carbon disclosure context, with a specific focus on firm-internal capabilities. The analysis examines the roles of sustainability-related expertise and digital reporting systems in shaping carbon disclosure practices among manufacturing firms. Drawing on survey data from an emerging economy and employing a structural equation modeling approach, the findings show that internal sustainability competency capital and digital technologies exert significant positive effects on carbon disclosure, while firm size and ownership structure also exhibit significant associations, whereas organizational age does not. These results suggest that firms enhance carbon transparency primarily through internal capacity building and digital infrastructure development. The study concludes by discussing implications for organizations and policymakers seeking to strengthen the credibility and usefulness of corporate carbon disclosure through investments in human expertise and digital systems.