Corporate Environmental Disclosure Quality and Impression Management Theory in Nigeria

Abstract

Corporate environmental disclosure acts as a means of providing environmental information to fulfill firms’ accountability relationship with stakeholders and to express firm’s environmental awareness. However, the level of environmental disclosure by Nigerian firms is still low and the relationship with actual environmental performance is still inclusive. This study examines this phenomenon using the impression management theory. The theory asserts that firms provide environmental information as an attempt to control the impression of the public and the stakeholders. The sample of the study comprises of firms listed on the Nigerian stock exchange as at 31 st December, 2020. GRI disclosure index is used in collecting environmental disclosure data from the annual reports of the sampled firms. The environmental performance (EP) data was collected from the ministry of environment website. The result of this study reveals that EP does not have any influence on companies’ disclosure of environmental information. The result of the study provides motivation for the NSE to review all existing CSR reporting framework so as to provide a guidance to firms to prepare a more objective voluntary environmental disclosure.