FIRM’S ATTRIBUTES AND CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY DISCLOSURE: AN EMPIRICAL ANALYSIS OF LISTED MANUFACTURING COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the nexus between firm’s attributes and corporate social responsibility disclosure of Nigerian listed manufacturing firms.  To achieve the objective, firm’s attributes key proxy variables were used in the study, namely board side, female directors in board, board independence, CEO tenure, CEO ownership, block holder’s ownership structures, institutional ownership, profitability and leverage while corporate social responsibility disclosure which is the dependent variable on the other hand is represented in dummy. Ten hypotheses were formulated to guide the investigation and the statistical test of parameter estimates was conducted using Descriptive statistics, Pearson Correlation Matrix and Binary logistic regression analysis with the help of E-view version 13. Ex-post facto research design was adopted and data for the study were obtained from the Nigerian Exchange Group (XGN), firm’s annual reports and internet. These panel data were time series data covers the period from 2010 to 2019. Analyses of data indicated that apart from the presence of female directors in board and board independence, other variables have positive relationship with CSR disclosure in Nigeria. The consequences of these revelations were that it gives verification to the overall population, investors and regulators that larger boards, higher CEO tenure, CEO ownership, block holder’s ownership structure, institutional ownership, return on equity and leverage are connected unequivocally with the CSR disclosure in Nigerian manufacturing firms. This proposes that as these variables extend there will be development in CSR disclosure practices in Nigerian manufacturing firms. Another consequence is that independent directors has negative relationship with CSR revelation in Nigerian manufacturing firms, and this recommends that the conflict among owners and directors of resources may not be diminished on the ground that independent directors were assigned; moreover as extra women are designated on the board in Nigerian firms, it doesn't bring to the affiliation such things as differentiation, capacities, knowledge, and relationship with external resources. The report makes the assurance that board size, CEO tenure, CEO ownership, institutional ownership, return on equity and leverage are significant factors in determining CSR disclosure, and that their optimality is subsequently significant for a superior outcome considering the audit's revelations. It is hence communicated that greater board sizes should be empowered because they have capacity from diverse aspects that mobilize resources for best exploitation, making them bound to be adaptable than additional unobtrusive ones.