Accounting Perspective of Social Footprint Disclosure and its Implication on Firm’s Value of Selected Oil and Gas Companies in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examined the disclosure of social footprint on firms’ value in Nigeria. In other to achieve the targeted objective, perceptual data on social footprint and firms’ value were collected from seven (7) oil and gas firms listed in the Nigerian Exchange Group(NEG) from 2012 to 2021. The 7 companies selected formed a sample representation of the population and also created 70 observations as panel data. The sampling technique used for this study was non-probability sampling since the study data was secondary data, and also purposive and quantitative. Social footprint which is the independent variable was proxy as Community disclosure (COMD), employee relation disclosure (EMPD), and customer complaint disclosure (CCCD), while firm value (the dependent variable), was measured using Tobin Q (TOBQ). Findings indicate that community disclosure significantly improves the firm value of listed oil and gas firms in Nigeria. Therefore, this result implies that positive variations in the firm value of listed companies in Nigeria are accounted for by community-related information disclosed by such firms. More so, the result of Hypothesis Two tested shows that employee relation disclosure insignificantly decreases the firm value of listed oil and gas firms in Nigeria. Therefore, employee relation disclosure does not decrease the value of listed firms in Nigeria. This also supports the view that a good association with employees can result in better productivity, thereby reducing lawsuits and related expenses that will ultimately lead to higher profit. Furthermore, the result obtained from hypothesis three shows that customer complaints disclosure significantly improves the firm value of listed oil and gas firms in Nigeria. This implies that positive variations in firms’ value of listed companies in Nigeria are also accounted for by customer complaints disclosures. Overall, these findings suggest that responsible business practices toward primary stakeholders can be profitable and beneficial to firms in Nigeria.