The impact of foreign direct investment (FDI) on the economic growth of host economies has attracted significant debate in the literature with empirical evidence being inconclusive. Sectoral analysis was therefore introduced in the literature to understand the heterogenous response of the performance of the various economic sectors to changes in the inflows of FDI as opposed to the impact of the latter on the whole economy. On the sectoral paradigm, very little attention has been given to the agricultural sector which holds the key to food security in the world and poverty reduction in developing economies such as Ghana where the sector employs majority of the active working population. In this respect, our study looked at the impact of FDI on the performance of the agricultural sector in Ghana with data over the period 1980 -2013 using Johansen cointegration test. We found that FDI negatively impacts the agricultural sector productivity in the long run but with positive relationship in the short run. We also found that the depreciation of the cedi negatively impacts the growth of the agricultural sector in the long run. Trade openness on the other hand had positive and significant long run impact on the agricultural sector. We recommend that the government harnesses trade relations, stabilizes the local currency and ensures that FDI inflows to agriculture and the entire economy are not harmful to the economy by way of capital and excessive profit repatriations.

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PurposeThis study examines the effect of gender board characteristics on the choice of sustainability report format in India. A sustainability report covers the environmental and social impacts of firms. It is presented either as an integrated report with the rest of the financial reporting to stakeholders or a separate document (stand-alone) with the advantage of communicating better information.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses an inclusive sample of 800 firm-year observations between 2010 and 2019. The study applies the binary probit and the instrumental variable probit regressions to analyse the data from the Indian Stock Exchange.FindingsThe authors find that female chief executive officers (CEOs) are more likely to choose stand-alone reports over integrated reporting. The authors also find that female CEOs with a duality role are insignificant in choosing between integrated reporting and stand-alone sustainability reporting. Furthermore, the study shows that gender board diversity (percentage of women over total board size) and females of two or less are insignificant. However, three or more females on the board significantly and positively affect stand-alone sustainability reporting. Similarly, independent female directors are more likely to choose stand-alone reporting over integrated reporting. Policymakers must encourage sensitive environmental firms to employ more female CEOs over male CEOs because female CEOs are more likely to adopt stand-alone sustainability reporting.Originality/valueThe authors’ study adds novelty to research because previous studies have only examined a female CEO and sustainability. However, this study is the first to investigate female CEOs' and female board members' choice of sustainability report format.

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