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This paper examined the effect of accounting practices on the growth of micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in Nigeria. The study specifically examined the influence of book-keeping and accounting knowledge on the growth of micro and small enterprises as well as the effect of financial management practices on the growth of MSEs in Nigeria. The study adopted survey research design. Micro and small scale enterprises in South-East and South-South geopolitical zones in Nigeria formed the population of the study. The study made use of primary data. Questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. A sample size of 384 was adopted using Bill Godden sample size formula. Proportional stratified random sampling technique was employed to distribute this 384 to MSEs. The data were tested using percentages, mean, and standard deviation, while the hypotheses were tested using regression analysis and analysis of variance. Multicollinearity test was conducted to determine the collinearity of the two independent variables. According to the findings, book-keeping and accounting knowledge as well as financial management practices have significant effect on MSE growth in Nigeria. This finding implies that MSEs will experience continuous growth if they acquire accounting knowledge and apply such knowledge in financial management practices in their business operations. This study will be beneficial to researchers, readers of this work, investors, and intending investors in MSEs in Nigeria. The limitations experienced in the course of this research were the reluctant attitude of some respondents who felt that they might be revealing business secrets to free-riders but later showed full cooperation when convinced it was purely for critical examination of problems of accounting practices affecting MSEs growth in Nigeria and the ability to find out solutions. It recommends government and MSE owners/managers to focus greater attention on the acquisition of book-keeping and accounting knowledge and financial management practices that can constantly lead to MSEs' growth.

This study assessed the impact of public sector reforms programmes on the human resources management and civil service of the Nigerian public service. Data for the study were mainly secondary data complemented with primary data collected from stakeholders in the public service that have experienced various reforms in their career. Findings suggest that the impact of reforms on HRM and CSR were largely marginal. The positives of the reforms are mainly in the areas of improvement in salaries and functionality of pension and retirement benefits by making it contributory. These improvements in emoluments narrowed the incentives between public and private sectors and tend to attract skilled hands to the public sector that otherwise would not have been the case. However, all other policy initiatives that were aimed at ensuring effective and efficient use of scarce resources, transparency and accountability by civil servants, incentives and promotion by merit and value for money were at various stages of policy reversal, delayed implementation, and outright abandonment by compromising civil servants that selectively implement only those reforms that suits and benefits their interests. Further, successive regimes after that of former President Olusegun Obasanjo (1999-2007) who initiated most of the reforms, did not have or could not provide enough political will to sustain the benefits and the tempo of these reforms.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent and quality of voluntary intellectual capital disclosure (ICD) by deposit money banks (DMBs) in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachData were collected from a survey of 271 informants and content analysis of the annual reports of 12 DMBs in Nigeria. The data collected were analysed using factor analysis,t-test, Friedman test for related sample and Wilcoxon signed-rank test.FindingsThe findings of this paper indicate that the extent of ICD is significant and higher than the quality of ICD, which is insignificant, with the extent of disclosure highest in the relational component of intellectual capital. It also shows that a significant difference exists amongst the extent of human capital, structural capital and relational capital disclosures, with the significant difference traced to the difference between the extent of disclosures of relational capital and human capital.Research limitations/implicationsThe results can be interpreted across the target sample where the study covers a five-year period and 12 DMBs in Nigeria. However, the study provides a robust empirical basis for policymakers and regulators to develop future ICD regulatory guidelines for banks and push for improvement in the quality of ICD by DMBs.Originality/valueNo previous studies of voluntary ICD have considered the extent and quality of ICD by DMBs in Nigeria. Further, this study shed the light on a new human capital item related to “employee health and mental state”; therefore, it extends and supports the previous empirical literature on ICD.

Purpose: To understand the underlying employer–employee relationships when there are weak labour laws and high unemployment, we tested a mediation of the ‘Dirty Dozen’ – 12 – items measuring the dark triad (Machiavellianism, psychopathy and narcissism) on the Psychological Contract Breach (PCB) – Exit, Voice and Loyalty (EVL) effect. Design/methodology/approach: Using 391 respondents comprising the staff of a large financial institution in Nigeria, we formulated the hypotheses to establish direct, indirect and total effects of the variables studied. Constructs diagnostics were performed using confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) for construct validity, composite reliability for internal consistency and Hayes’ mediated regression to test the hypotheses. Findings/results: All direct effects were statistically significant. Narcissism is shown as the non-statistically supported mediator amongst the dark triad, whilst the study showed that the total effect of the multiple mediators worsens loyalty behaviour more than they predict exit behaviour. Practical Implications: This implies that employers should do better to maintain a healthy work climate in developing climes, as the dominant response to contract breach would not be exit, but rather disloyalty, which would be more disruptive to the organisation than either exit or voice. Originality/value: Post Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) there could be a threat to sustainable work systems. Both employers and employees would have to develop methods to deal with perceived breach from employers and idiosyncratic work behaviour of employees. The contributions of this study would aid sustainable work-related practices, especially within unregulated work environments as present in Africa and other developing nations across the world.

The fight against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) has called for corporate social responsibility (CSR). Thus, Nigerian businesses, such as in the petroleum and financial industries, have provided hospital donations and $30 million assistance among others to mitigate COVID-19. We investigated the moderating role of negative earnings in firm size–CSR relationship. We used content and logistic panel regression analyses on a sample of 100 firms listed on Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). First, we confirmed a positive firm size–CSR relationship (stakeholders’ expectation hypothesis). Second, we found that earnings loss negatively affects stakeholders’ expectation hypothesis. The study suggests that big firms are likely to negatively respond to the clarion call for donations for COVID-19 due to negative earnings. However, our robustness test revealed that old firms positively respond to CSR activities despite earnings loss. Our study results contribute important insights into the current debate concerning the effect of earnings loss on CSR activities. Corporate managers are encouraged to participate in social activities by contributing their resources for human race sustainability and community development, hence enabling stakeholders to highly value their work, money, support, and societal acceptance.

This study investigates the effect of accounting earnings on the gross national income of Nigeria. We used a sample of 101 firms listed that are listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange covering the twelve years from 2006 to 2017. We found a positive and statistically significant association between the gross national income and gross profit, earnings before interest and tax, profit after tax and the book value of equity. Besides, we documented that inclusion of macroeconomic variables in the model, enhanced the impact of aggregate accounting earnings on gross national income

The purpose of this paper is to identify the suitability, challenges and the way forward for University accounting education in Nigeria in producing graduates fit for the labour market and the profession. The study is motivated by the report of the ACCA on drivers of change and future skills expected of accountants and problems facing higher education in Nigeria. The study adopts a mixed research method. It used a structured questionnaire to elicit information from the accounting students, academics and practitioners. Focused group discussion was undertaken to explore the issues at stake further. Descriptive statistics and T-test statistics were used to analyse the data and compare perceptions across the various stakeholders. The study found a deficient university accounting curricula, poorly motivated Nigerian accounting lecturers and poor cooperation between professional accounting bodies and the academia, among others. Two stakeholder groups had reservations on the ability of the present university education in Nigeria to produce future accountants fit for the labour market and the profession. Recommendations for repositioning include internationalisation of Nigerian university accounting curricula, motivating university accounting lecturers through improved conditions of service and international staff exchanges. This result should be of interest to Nigerian regulators, professional bodies and the universities.

The Nigerian economy in the last two decades up until 2013 has been growing at an average of 6% and yet unemployment was equally growing in the region of 20% within the same period. This paradoxical situation has led to a flurry of studies and postulations aimed at providing explanation and solution to the phenomenon. This study making use of a regression model with annual data from 1980 to 2013, empirically determined the impact of public sector expenditures (CEXP and REXP) together with private sector investment (PINV) on unemployment (UNEMP) in Nigeria. Capital expenditure and private sector investment both in the medium to long-run were found to serve as catalyst towards reduction of unemployment, while recurrent expenditure was not statistically strong enough to do same. The R-2 (0.84) showed that greater proportion of the total variations in UNEMP was brought about by variations in the regressors. Further tests like autocorrelation, hetroscedasticity, specification error, and multicollinearity indicated respectively that there is no presence of autocorrelation hence the model produced a parsimonious result; the variance is constant over time; the link test confirmed by Ramsey reset test suggested there was no specification error; and lastly the variance inflation factor (VIF) of the variables implies that there is no evidence of multicollinearity. The study recommends, inter alia, that the proportion of capital expenditure in Nigerian budget profile should be systematically increased while the recurrent expenditure should be reduced; and there is need to stimulate competition among investors through removal of structural and institutional rigidities and government should design clear policy incentives to private sector investment.

La industria financiera nigeriana ha estado inmersa en una intensa competencia, y la mayoría de las empresas no se detienen ante nada para obtener una ventaja competitiva en el mercado. Este estudio examina el nexo entre la integración vertical y la obtención de una ventaja competitiva en la industria financiera. El estudio adoptó el diseño cuantitativo con una estrategia de encuesta. Se obtuvo un marco de muestra de 753 del personal de gestión de 12 instituciones financieras seleccionadas a propósito en el suroeste de Nigeria. En segundo lugar, la firma de proveedores de adquisición redujo el costo operativo general de las firmas financieras de Nigeria. El estudio recomienda que las instituciones financieras necesiten aprovechar la oportunidad masiva en integración vertical para crecer y sobrevivir en esa industria altamente competitiva.

Purpose: This study examined the effect of corporate governance leadership models and attributes on firms' earnings quality using evidence from Nigerian quoted firms. Design/Methodology/Approach: This study used an ex-post facto design with a twostage multiple random and fixed effect regression analyses. A sample of 37 quoted firms in Nigerian Stock Exchange between 2014 and 2018 was selected for the study. Findings: Relative to unitary corporate leadership, dual board leadership model outperformed and significantly improves earnings persistence and value relevance. Earnings persistence and value relevance increased in boards where CEOs and board chairpersons have equal financial expertise. Also the quality of earnings improved significantly with a good mix of financial expertise and legal skills in the board. Thus, the capital market places a premium on such good leadership attribute mix. Research Limitation: This study concentrated on non-financial firms in Nigeria. Thus, it should not primarily be generalized as it is context-specific and most applicable among the developing economies Policy Implication: The implication is that investors can mitigate adverse portfolio selection if they target firms, where both CEOs and board chairpersons have strong accounting and legal knowledge mix. Investors should consider board leadership structures in assessing the overall firms' earnings quality. Leadership roles separation provides for higher reporting quality. Originality: This study provides the latest evidence of the effect of board leadership models and attributes on firms' earnings quality in Nigeria. It makes original contribution to the effect of corporate governance on earnings persistence and predictability and how the market reacts to certain attribute combinations.

The purpose of this study is to examine the effect of tax revenue on the economic development of Nigerian, and to ascertain whether there is any difference in using HDI and GDP in establishing the relationship. The approach adopted in this study was that of using annual time series data for the period 2005 – 2014 to estimate a linear model of tax revenue and human development index using ordinary least square (OLS) regression technique. Findings show a positively and significantly relationship between tax revenue and economic development. The result also reveals that measuring the effect of tax revenue on economic development using HDI gives lower relationship than measuring the relationship with GDP thus suggesting that using gross domestic product (GDP) gives a painted picture of the relationship between tax revenue and economic development in Nigeria. The researcher, therefore, conclude that tax revenue can be an instrument of economic development in Nigeria. Development of any tax policy on tax revenue for economic development should better be based on human development index rather than GDP. This study provides a useful insight for the government, stakeholders and policy makers into the importance of tax revenue for economic development as a result; income derived from tax should be judiciously used to encourage citizens to continue to pay tax.

This paper examined the effect of corporate governance structures on earnings persistence and value relevance of Nigerian firms. Analysis was made using multivariate and multiple regression analytic tools with sample of 148 audited financial statements of quoted Nigerian firms in Nigerian Stock Exchange between 2014 and 2017. We found that CEO duality positively but insignificantly affected income persistence and positively and significantly affected value relevance. Board size significantly and negatively affected earnings value relevance while it negatively and significantly affected earnings persistence. Audit committee had a significant positive effect on earnings value relevance and accrual persistence. Thus, audit committee plays a vital constraining role while board expansion does not necessarily increase earnings quality. Overall, we can infer that the analyses involving all key earnings quality proxies could yield a better conclusion. Investors should rely largely on models that examined various impacts on earnings quality proxies.

The aim of this study was to compare the influence of corporate board characteristics on the extent of environmental disclosure quantity of listed firms in two leading emerging economies in Africa, South Africa (integrated reporting framework) and Nigeria (traditional reporting framework). Methods: The sample was comprised of 303 firms including environmentally sensitive companies purposively selected for content analysis study in South Africa (213) and Nigeria (90). We used both descriptive, multivariate and regression models to comparatively analyze the differences about corporate board characteristics as determinants of the extent of their environmental disclosure quantity. Results: The results reveal a more significant positive association between board characteristics and environmental disclosure in South Africa and less relevant association in Nigeria. Also, the results support that board independence arrangement may serve as bonding mechanisms in weak reporting environments, suggesting a substitutive relationship between board independence and the regulatory framework. Quiet revealing a board with environmental committee show a higher tendency to be ecologic transparent in both countries. However, in a traditional reporting framework, the environmental committee is not enough; its effect was insignificant and highly significant in the integrated reporting framework. Further revealed is the significant positive effect of industry membership influence on environmental disclosure. In all estimated models of South Africa sample show that 45% of environmentally sensitive industries significantly influence environmental disclosure, while 51% is environmentally polluting industries in Nigeria show less concern on environmental disclosure. Interestingly, Audit firm size (Big4) positively and statistically significantly associated with overall environmental reporting in both countries. The results are consistent with stakeholder theory, agency theory, institutional and legitimacy theory suggesting that a strong board size, independent members of the board with auditing experience, the active environmental committee in conjunction with solid audit reputation may reduce information asymmetry. Our findings will be helpful for policymakers and other regulators who are interested in environmental impact reporting.

This paper reviews the benefits and costs of joint audits (audits in which financial statements are audited by two or more independent auditors), and ascertains the perceptions of stakeholders (Nigerian accountants, auditors, and accounting academics) as an important determining factor as to whether Nigeria's government should make joint audits mandatory. Accountants, auditors, and accounting academics were surveyed in Nigeria using a Likert-type questionnaire. Responses to the questions were analyzed using simple percentages and independent t-test statistics. Clarifications were also sought from partners of accounting firms. The study revealed little agreement among stakeholders on the desirability of mandated joint audits in Nigeria, although there was general agreement that the benefits outweigh the costs involved. The open-ended questions, and the clarifications provided by some accounting practitioners shed further light on the issues surrounding the use of joint audits in Nigeria. This study contributes to the current debate in Nigeria, on whether joint audits should be mandated, by eliciting the opinions of three important stakeholder groups. This study adds to the current literature on joint audits, and highlights avenues for further research, both in Nigeria, and in other developing countries.