Title: BOARD ATTRIBUTES AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DISCLOSURE OF LISTED FIRMS IN NIGERIA
Author:
Osunwole, Olatunjioludayo Ph.D.
Abstract:
This study investigated the influence of board attributes on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) disclosure of listed firms in Nigeria. The population of this study comprised all listed companies on the Nigerian Exchange Group as at December, 2023. Stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used to select 90 listed firms from all the listed companies that consistently published their annual financial reports for the period of ten years (2014-2023). Content analysis of sampled Nigeria companies’ annual reports was undertaken to examine the level of CSR disclosure practices and their association with board characteristics over a period of ten years. Descriptive statistics, correlation and panel regression were employed as techniques of data analysis. The results show that board independence and board gender diversity had positive and significant influence on CSR practices among Nigerian listed firms (t = 2.31, p<0.05) and (t = 2.34, p<0.05) respectively. While, board size indicates an insignificant negative influence on CSR disclosure (t = -0.43, p>0.05). Also, board meetings have positive insignificant relationship with CSR disclosure (t = 0.54, p>0.05). However, the result on control variables showed that firm size influenced CSR disclosure positively (t = 4.78, p<0.05) while firm profitability had a negative but significant influence on CSR disclosure (t = -3.72, p<0.05). The study concluded that board attributes influenced CSR disclosure and that the stakeholders’ interests are related to Nigerian listed firms’ CSR disclosure. It was recommended that a reasonable number of independent non-executive directors should be on the board of listed firms in Nigeria. Also, female members’ proportion on the board should be increased to ensure corporate objectivity, fair representation, effective monitoring and protection of the interest of all stakeholders.
Keywords: Board size, Board Independence, Board Gender Diversity, Board Meetings, Listed Firms.
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