Institutions, Infrastructure and Economic Growth in Nigeria.

The study examines the impact of institutions and infrastructures on economic growth in Nigeria. The study contributes to the infrastructure-growth nexus literature in Nigeria by accounting for institutions into the model. The justification for the inclusion of the variable is based on the fact that good institutions will induce growth and that it will serve as an impetus for investor to invest in Nigeria. The result shows that there is long-run cointegrating relationship using the bounds-testing approach of Pesaran et al (2001). The study shows that population and institutions contributes positively to growth and that public infrastructure has a negative significant impact on growth. It is strongly recommended that that government should monitor her public infrastructure spending by reducing wastages so that it can contribute positively to growth. In addition, government should adhere to good institutions so as to increase the inflow of foreign direct investment into Nigeria

Forensic Accounting, a Veritable Financial Tool for Qualitative Financial Reporting Systems in the 21st Century

Purpose: The aim of this study was to examine the implications and effects of forensic accounting as a veritable financial tool for qualitative financial reporting in the 21st century. In this period, forensic accounting is playing a significant role in the trajectory efforts in building enduring confidence in the credibility of financial reporting systems.   Theoretical Framework: The quality of financial reporting is under critical threat as a result of reported financial scandals and the professional recklessness of a few unscrupulous individuals in the accounting profession.   The objective of the financial reporting system is to galvanize the reporting procedures and true application of accounting standards to improve the general acceptance of accounting information.  Forensic accounting bridges the gap as a veritable financial tool to enhance the quality of financial reporting.   Design/Methodology/Approach: The study employed used a survey research method, using a structured questionnaire administered through an online platform targeting a selection of forensic accounting investigators and forensic accountants. A total of 443 questionnaires were validated and used for the analyses. The reliability and validity of the instrument were confirmed with the use of Cronbach Alpha and descriptive statistics and inferential analysis were used for the study analyses of the data.   Findings: The result demonstrated that forensic accounting exerted significant effects on each of the qualitative characteristics and enhanced characteristics of financial reporting systems in the study. The study concluded that forensic accounting as a veritable financial tool significantly affected the quality of financial reporting systems in this 21st century.   Research Practical & Social Implication: The study with the possibility of application of forensic accounting during this contemporary period, the quality of financial reporting is enhanced. The implication of forensic accounting in safeguarding corporate financial risks should not be ignored, in providing novelty and oversight functions building quality and trust in reliance on the quality of financial reporting.   Implication/Originality/Value: The value of this study is assuring quality financial reporting in providing strong confidence and trust in the reliability and credibility of financial statements in making useful decisions capable of adding economic value to the stakeholders.

New Technologies: Catalysts for Business Models and Finance Function

To bridge performance gap, improve operational efficiency, enhance competitive advantage and secure corporate assets, business entities have continued to embrace new technologies with profound positive impact on their bottom-line.As new technologies replace humans through automation in the emerging business models, the demand for professionals, including chartered accountants, who are not IT-savvy is fast declining, taking with it, wages, salaries and a high percent of income taxes. These problems are compounded by the huge costs of technology acquisition and inevitable investment inhuman capacity building in the face of increasingly mobile staff.Using secondary information, the study observed that many professional accountants dread the transition from manual to automation as it would eliminate repetitive finance-related jobs in the midst of high unemployment rate in the country, dissuade new entrants into the accounting profession and alter the human side of enterprise.It therefore recommends that the training curricula of professional accountancy organisations should be rejigged and skewed towards technology while existing professional accountants should hone their IT skills to leverage technology to deliver value online, real time to their diverse stakeholders. Keywords: Technology, Internet of things, automation, business models, artificial intelligence, robotics, machine learning, finance function

Audit Reporting Lag and Firm Value in Nigerian Food and Beverage Companies

Delays in financial reporting give a negative signal to the market and adversely affect the company’s market value. Financial reporting lags raise suspicions among market participants regarding concealment of any potential bad news by a firm, which may affect its share value. Thus, the study investigates the interaction of audit reporting lag and firm value in Nigerian beverage and food companies. Audit delays lead to the late publication of financial statements, enhancing the information asymmetry problem, and affecting firm value. We obtained the data from annual reports of 10 listed companies for five years. The Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) estimation is used to analyze the data. The results suggest that audit delays do not affect the market value of a firm. Previous studies mainly focus on the relationship between corporate governance firm characteristics, and audit reporting lag in Nigeria. To the best of our knowledge, the impact of audit delays on firm value in Nigeria is yet to be adequately explored. The finding may help statutory bodies in reducing the period of financial reporting. The results may also help firms improve their performance and promote an environment that may give investors confidence. This study has focused on the food and beverage sector in Nigeria. Future studies can be undertaken in other sectors which may bring more insight to the issues related to financial reporting lags

Macroeconomic Effects of Fiscal Policy Changes in Nigeria

The study examines the relationship between fiscal policy and macroeconomic performance in Nigeria in the post economic crisis era. The vector autoregressive, granger causality and impulse response function estimators are employed to capture the interactions between fiscal policy and macroeconomic variables. The findings indicate that the previous values of government revenue employed in financing government expenditure have impact on macroeconomic factors except for per capita income growth. However, only money supply to the size of the Nigerian economy reported a direct relationship with total expenditure growth, where others report an indirect relation. Also, the fiscal balance growth only enhances lending rate, total trade to economic size and exchange rate, and the other two variables report otherwise. The paper submitted that fiscal policy is important to achieve better macroeconomic performance in Nigeria

Sustainability Reporting and Discretionary Accruals of Multinational Corporations in Sub-Saharan Africa

The quality of accounting information has attracted considerable interests among many scholars, investors, and other stakeholders worldwide. Earnings management is one of the factors responsible for this development. However, studies have shown that sustainability reporting can assist companies in reducing information asymmetry which encourages earnings’ manipulation. Hence, the paper investigated how sustainability reporting could influence accrualsbased earnings management among multinational corporations in Sub-Saharan Africa countries. The research’ design wasex-post facto. All the 48 multinational companies in thesub-Saharan Africa countries constituted the study’s population. Purposive sampling technique was used in selecting 5 multinational companies from each of 10 sampled countries based on data availability. The data for the period 2010-2019 were obtained from the published annual financial reports of the sampled multinational companies and the Global Reporting Initiatives (GRI)’s sustainability guidelines. The study revealed that the lag of discretionary accruals, corporate governance sustainability reporting and economic sustainability reporting had positive relationship with discretionary accruals, while social sustainability reporting and environmental sustainability reporting were negatively linked to discretionary accruals. Additionally, the study found that sustainability reporting jointly had significant effect on discretionary accruals of multinational corporations in Sub-Saharan Africa (Adj. R2 = 0.33, W(6, 444 ) = 668.67, P<.05).This study concluded that sustainability reporting exerted significant influence on discretionary accruals of multinational corporations in Sub-Sahara Africa. The study recommended that management of multinational corporations in sub-Saharan Africa should ensure strict compliance with sustainability reporting so as to improve the earnings quality. Keywords: Sustainability reporting, environmental reporting, economic reporting, social reporting, corporate governance reporting, earnings management, discretionary accruals. DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/12-24-02 Publication date: December 31st 202

The Effect of Dividend Policy on Share Price Volatility of Some Selected Companies on the Nigerian Exchange

Share Price volatility has exhibited different patterns in different global exchange markets including the Nigerian exchange. Various attempts have been made to unravel the possible causes of this volatility and how they can be mitigated, but there have been fewer studies in this regard, especially in developing economies like Nigeria. Hence the study examined the effect of dividend policy on share price volatility of selected companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange. The study adopted ex-post facto research design and EGARCH for volatility measure. A sample of 49 companies out of 162 companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange during the study period (2010-2020) was randomly selected for the panel data. The study found that the dividend policy had significant relationship with share price volatility (SPV) with Adjusted R2 = 0.116, Wald (3, 2156) = 32.89, p = 0.000 < 0.05; Specifically, Dividend Payout Ratio (DPR) has significant effect on SPV (DPR = 0.0036, t(2156) = 4.7237, p < 0.05); dividend yield (DY), dividend per share (DPS) and financial leverage (LEV) had a negative and no significant effect on SPV (DY = -0.0003, t(2156) = -2.713, p > 0.05; DPS = -0.0508, t-test = -1.8952, p > 0.05; and LEV = -0.2066, t-test = -1.4742, p > 0.05 respectively). The study concluded that dividend policy have significant effect on share price volatility. The study recommended that companies should focus more on the payout while investors should go for corporate entities with constant payout ratio

Nexus Between Tax Havens and Illicit Financial Flow of Funds(IFFs) from Africa: A Theoretical Review

This paper examined the nexus between tax havens and illicit financial flow of funds with particular reference to capital flows out of the African continent. Qualitative content analysis method supported with empirical data obtained from multilateral agencies was used for the study. The dataset covered forty-four (44) African countries for the period 2005-2014 respectively. Results revealed that the absence of political will, weak institutional framework, poor regulatory oversight and the unbridled scramble for the continent’s mineral resources are some of the key factors responsible for the continued rise in IFFs from Africa. The study also found that the absence of global consensus on the proper treatment of tax havens remains a challenge to fostering the needed international collaboration to fight the scourge. It therefore recommended that critical stakeholders like the press and civil society groups in their roles as public watchdogs need to do more to track and report incidences of IFFs timeously. Also, on the international front, efforts must be made to ensure that the proposed new minimum, global corporate tax rate of 15% is adhered to as a needed first step to discourage funds flow to tax havens. Keywords: Tax Havens, Illicit financial flow of funds, Tax Evasion, Africa, Economic Development JEL Classification: B22, E63, H26 DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/13-2-06 Publication date: January 31st 202

© 2009 Academic Journals Full Length Research Paper Political stewardship accounting for good governance in Ekiti state, Nigeria

This paper aimed at analyzing the importance of stewardship accounting in government ministries in Ekiti State and the causes of mismanagement in government-sector finance. The population comprised four thousand principal officers in the sixteen local governments of Ekiti State of Nigeria out of which four hundred were stratifiedly selected from each local government. The data were gathered through questionnaires while frequency counts, percentage scores and factor analysis were used to analyze the data. The findings showed that stewardship accounting promotes good management of public funds, increases accountability and probity in the public sector and discourages embezzlement of public funds and promotes economics growth. It was therefore recommended that the government should make sure that stewardship accounting should be set up and strictly implemented for better reconstruction of good governance so as to guide against mal-administration of the public funds by public officers; and the ascertainment of proprietary of transactions and their conformity with established rules. Key words: Politics, stewardship accounting, good governance