The moderating effect of environmental agencies on firms’ sustainability reporting in Nigeria

Abstract

Purpose An attempt is made in this study aims to examine the extent to which the role of environmental agencies in Nigeria, i.e. DEPARTMENT for Petroleum Resources (DPR), National Environmental Standard and Regulatory Enforcement Agency (NESREA) and Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), influences firms’ attributes on sustainability reporting. Design/methodology/approach Both primary and secondary data covers 2015-2019 were used to collate information for the analyzes. The analysis was done using Stata 13 to determine the moderating impact of policy administrators on the relationship between corporate attributes and sustainability reporting. Findings The findings showed a very low level of sustainability reporting (27.53%), with a high significant level. Moreover, a positive and significant relationship exists between the major corporate attributes and sustainability reporting. A highly significant moderating impact of environmental policy administrators exists on these attributes, except for board size. Research limitations/implications The theoretical and practical implications of this study show that there is an indication of the inefficiency of the environmental policy administrators in Nigeria as the significance of the political economy theory as it affects the interactive impact on sustainability reporting. Further research is recommended on political-economic theory so as to know the economic implications of the effects of corporate attributes on environmental disclosure as it impacts governments and societies. Practical implications Results show that there is an indication of inefficiency by Nigeria’s main environmental policy administrators such as DPR, NESREA and NSE as it affects environmental, economic and social issues by listed firms. Originality/value This work emphasizes the moderating impact of environmental agencies on the relationship between firms’ characteristics and sustainability disclosure through the GRI4 framework standard. More so, it applied company attributes essential for a firm’s sustainable growth and development in the developing economies of sub-Saharan Africa.

Corporate board gender, institutional strength and energy disclosure in Nigeria

“…The study used content analyses to capture the level of energy disclosure by Nigerian listed firms using GRI standard. This is in line with the work of (Baalouch et al, 2019;Haladu and Bin-Nashwan, 2021;Masud et al, 2018;Udo, 2019).…”

“…The variables are categorized into three dimensions, dependent (energy disclosure), explanatory variable (independent and control variable) and moderating variable (institutional strength). The study used the un-weighted disclosure method to capture the extent of energy disclosure among the sampled firms (Haladu and Bin-Nashwan, 2021). Under the proposed approach, 0 points is given to non-compliance and 1 is given when firms disclose items of energy disclosure.…”

“…The study used the un-weighted disclosure method to capture the extent of energy disclosure among the sampled firms (Haladu and Bin-Nashwan, 2021). Under the proposed approach, 0 points is given to non-compliance and 1 is given when firms disclose items of energy disclosure.…”

“…Prior studies documented evidence that board attributes have significant positive and negative impacts on environmental disclosure globally. These studies were centered in developed countries (Baalouch et al , 2019; Consuelo et al , 2018; Cucari et al , 2017; Fernandes et al , 2018; Husted and Sousa-Filho, 2019; Khaireddine, 2020; Liao et al , 2014; Moussa, 2019; Qureshi et al , 2019; Tingbani et al , 2020) and some in emerging economies (Kathy et al , 2012; Aliyu, 2018; Ofoegbu et al , 2018; Alipour et al , 2019; Otchere et al , 2019; Rezaee, 2019; Kilincarslan et al , 2020; Shahab and Chen, 2020; Sial et al , 2021; Haladu and Bin-Nashwan, 2021; Mohammad and Wasiuzzaman, 2021). To this end, only one study (Fakoya and Nakeng, 2019) found to be conducted on the effect of energy disclosure.…”

“…The study uses content analysis techniques to obtain data on the environmental disclosure through the use of GRI standards from the sampled firms. The un-weighted disclosure method was used to capture the extent of energy disclosure among the sampled firms (Haladu and Bin-Nashwan, 2021). Under the proposed approach, 0 point is given to non-compliance and 1 is given when firms disclose items of energy disclosure.…”