EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION, SUSTAINABLEBANKING, FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE, COMPETITION AND BANK RISK-TAKING: THE MEDIATING ROLE OF CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

This thesis seeks to investigate the associations among Executive Compensation (EC), Sustainable Banking Disclosure (SBD), Financial Performance (FP), competition and Bank Risk-Taking (BRT) in English-speaking Sub-Saharan Africa (ESSA) countries. Additionally, the thesis explores the mediating role of Corporate Governance Disclosure Index (CGI) on these associations in the ESSA banks. The thesis adopts different statistical techniques to provide an in-depth analysis. Specifically, and to address endogeneity problems, the study employs two stage least squares (2SLS), generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation and lagged structure. Using 220 banks in the ESSA region for the period from 2007 to 2018, the thesis finds that internal governance practices and competition are key determinant of BRT in the region. Next, the findings of thesis suggest that the pay-for-sustainability sensitivity (PSS) is mainly positive, and also enhances in banks with high CGI, implying that the PSSis contingent on the internal CGI of banks. Further, the evidence of the thesis show that, the sustainability-for-performance sensitivity (SPS) is generally positive, and this association is reinforced in banks with high CGI, indicating that the SPS is dependent on banks internal CG mechanisms. The results of the thesis are robust to alternative measures, estimation methods, potential endogeneity issues and sample selection problems. The findings of the thesis have important implications for banking practitioners, regulators, environmental activists and policy-makers in the ESSA region.