Do corporate attributes drive integrated reporting amongst listed companies in Nigeria?

Michael O Adelowotan,Ini E Udofia

doi:10.4102/jef.v14i1.673

Michael O Adelowotan, Ini E Udofia

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.4102/jef.v14i1.673

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Abstract

Research purpose: The purpose of this paper was to investigate the association between corporate attributes and the implementation of Integrated Reporting (IR) among quoted companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange which currently operates a voluntary based disclosure environment.Design and method: Using content analysis to derive the disclosure scores for integrated reporting and corporate attributes, the authors investigated the impact of corporate attributes on the implementation of the integrated reporting of a sample of 90 listed firms. The annual reports covering 2013–2017 were analysed using the disclosure methodologies developed by prior researchers in IR. The hypotheses were tested using panel least square regressions.Main findings: The authors found that corporate attributes have a statistically positive and significant impact on the implementation of integrated reporting framework, that share ownership structure and firm age have an insignificant influence over corporate implementation of the integrated reporting framework. The research findings extend integrated reporting research in Nigeria from mere primary data analysis to quantitative data analysis.Practical implications: The empirical findings provide regulators with evidence on the current level of integrated reporting disclosures and the influence of corporate attributes in driving integrated reporting.Originality and value: The study makes significant contributions to integrated reporting literature from a developing country’s perspective. It also provided empirical evidence of a high level of disclosure compliance with the IR framework among quoted companies in Nigeria.

Highlights

In the past decades, corporate entities considered corporate reporting as a basis for maintaining corporate legitimacy
The results show that firm age, foreign ownership and industry type are negatively correlated with integrated reporting (IR) whilst firm size and institutional
The results showed that firm age, foreign ownership and institutional ownership have an insignificant relationship with IR

Summary

Introduction

Corporate entities considered corporate reporting as a basis for maintaining corporate legitimacy. Reports covering financial information relevant to the stock market operations were considered the most important information to provide to corporate report users. The inability of Nigerian listed companies to provide investors with sufficient social, economic, governance and environmental information that will enable them to understand the risk profiles of such entities and permit informed judgement and decisions (Ovute, Eyisi & Amorji 2014) has created a misconception in the minds of prospective investors globally that Nigeria is a risky country for the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) (Adeyemi & Ayanlola 2015). The corporate scandals of African Petroleum Plc, Cadbury Nigeria Plc and Lever Brothers Plc, Intercontinental Bank in Nigeria were traced to high unethical practices and little transparency in the published reports of quoted companies (Otusanya & Lauwo 2010)

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