Effect of Board Characteristics on Quality of Corporate Governance Disclosure Practices in Consumer Goods Firms in Nigeria

Abstract

Corporate governance is the system through which the behavior of a company is monitored and controlled. The significance of corporate governance is that, in modern economies, large corporations are typically associated with a division of labor between the parties who provide the capital (shareholders) and the parties who manage the resources (management). Corporate governance is concerned with the system of directing and controlling companies, and it is the responsibility of Board of Directors to ensure compliance with the regulations set by organizations. The study examined board characteristics and quality of corporate governance disclosure practices in Nigeria consumer goods. The study covered 19 Nigeria Consumers Goods firms that are listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange (NSE) as at 31 December, 2018. Financial information, governance information, strategic and non-financial information items as mandatory and for inclusion in the disclosure index were used to proxy corporate governance disclosures while board composition, block ownership, and ownership are the measures for board characteristics. The study adopts ex-post facto research design and covering the period of 2009 to 2018. Multiple ordinary least square were used with the aid of E-view 10 to determine the relationship between disclosure index and various board characteristics. From the findings, board composition, block ownership, and ownership concentration has a significant effect on corporate governance disclosures at 5% level of significance. Therefore, the study recommends that Nigeria consumers’ goods should structure their Board characteristics well because it will help them in terms of good financial information disclosures, governance information disclosures, strategic information disclosures and non-financial information disclosures. The study is supported by stakeholder theory which assumed that managers are accountable to all stakeholders. Therefore, the disclosure of information in financial report should reflect transparency.