Governing circular intellectual capital disclosure: evidence from European banks

Purpose The aim of this study is twofold. First, it seeks to examine the level of circular intellectual capital (CIC) information disseminated by European banks through their official websites. Second, it aims to investigate the role of corporate governance in shaping CIC disclosure (CICD). Specifically, this study examines the impact of board size, board gender diversity, board independence, and the presence of a sustainability committee on the level of CICD through the lens of stakeholder–agency theory. Design/methodology/approach This study adopts a manual content analysis of the official websites of 120 European listed banks in order to measure the level of CICD. Econometric analyses are then conducted to investigate the impact of corporate governance on CICD practices. Findings The findings show that European banks still disclose a limited amount of CIC-related information through their official websites. Additionally, this study demonstrates that board size, board gender diversity, and board independence positively affect the level of CICD, whereas the presence of a sustainability committee has no significant effect on this type of disclosure. Practical implications The findings suggest that banks should strengthen the communication of CIC-related information through their official websites and pay greater attention to board composition, as larger, more gender-diverse, and more independent boards appear to foster higher levels of CICD. This study also provides useful insights for policymakers, regulators, and standard setters by highlighting the need for more structured guidance to support the disclosure of CIC-related information in the banking sector. For higher education institutions, the findings highlight the importance of integrating CIC and CICD into higher education curricula. Originality/value This study contributes to the literature on non-financial disclosure in the banking sector by introducing CICD as a novel and analytically distinct construct within this context. It also extends research on the relationship between corporate governance and non-financial disclosure to this emerging form of disclosure and broadens the application of stakeholder–agency theory to the domain of CICD.