Working Capital Management and Financial Performance of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

Working capital is regarded as the lifeblood and nerve of a business concern, it is therefore essential to accommodate the smooth operations of any organization, but Studies in working capital management have provided inconclusive results. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of working capital management of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria. The study covers the period of six years 2007 to 2013. Data for the study were extracted from the firms’ annual reports and accounts. After running the OLS regression, a robustness test was conducted for validity of statistical inferences, the data was empirically tested between the regressors and the regressed, A multiple regression was employed to test the model of the study using OLS. The results from the analysis revealed a strong positive relationship between current ratio and quick ratio and ROA of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria, while cash ratio was found to be inversely but significantly related to ROA of Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria. In line with the above findings, the study recommended that the management should put more attention on their liquidity in order to maintain an adequate liquidity as the study has empirically proved that higher liquidity signifies more profitability, the listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria should try and maintain a higher quick ratio as it will have a positive impact on their profitability. Finally, the management should reduce the amount held in cash as current asset and concentrate more in investing them, so that it could yield higher return rather than tie down the idle cash. Keywords: Current ratio, Quick ratio, Cash ratio, Firm size, Return on asset and Trade-off theor

Firms’ Specific Characteristics and Stock Market Returns (Evidence from Listed Food and beverages Firms in Nigeria)

Because of the mix of opinion in the literature, the mix of empirical findings, and the limited empirical works on the relationship between firms’ specific characteristics and Stock Market Returns particularly with reference to listed food and beverages firms in Nigeria, it is not out of place to conduct further research on this area to ascertain position. Hence, the study investigated the impact of certain firms’ attributes namely: Market Capitalization, Debt-to-Equity Financing and Earnings per Share on Stock Market Returns of listed food and beverages firms in Nigeria for the period 2007-2013. The population comprises all the twenty-one (21) food and beverages firms listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) December, 2013. Out of which nine (9) firms constitute the sample of the study. The study adopted both correlation and ex-post facto research design. The data for the study was purely from secondary sources obtained from the annual reports of the sampled firms as well as NSE fact book. Data was analyzed using several options of multiple panel data regression. But the most robust of all is OLS regression as suggested by ‘Breusch and Pagan Lagrangian Multiplier Test for Random Effect’. The findings revealed that Market Capitalization has a significant negative impact on Stock Market Returns of listed food and beverages firms in Nigeria; while the impact of Debt-to-Equity Financing and Earnings per Share on Stock Market Returns are found to be positive and statistically significant. Based on these findings the study recommend as follows: that government and policy maker (Security and Exchange Commission) should design and implement more stringent rule where firms will be compelled and monitored on providing high quality financial reporting, so as to be reporting earnings that reflect their actual performance. This would prevent investors from falling on to the trap of earnings manipulation (as it happened to shareholders of Cadbury Nigeria plc.). In addition, prospective investors should not only focus on huge returns for investing in smaller capitalized or high levered firms; rather, further analysis need to be carried out to tradeoff between risk and returns. Keywords: market capitalization, debt-to-equity financing, earnings per share, stock market returns and stock marke

Assessing the Effect of Board Gender Diversity on CSR Reporting Through Moderating Role of Political Connections in Chinese Listed Firms

This study departs from existing work on board gender diversity (BGD) and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting by analyzing and explaining the mechanism by which gender-diverse boards in politically embedded firms (PEFs) affect firms’ CSR reporting choices in a unique institutional setting of Chinese listed firms from 2010 to 2018. The following main results are obtained. First, having female directors and executives with political connections (PCs) on corporate boards improves the CSR reporting of firms. Firms with PCs have a greater possibility to issue CSR reports than their non-connected counterparts. Second, firms that have both gender diversity and PCs on their boards of directors are more likely to engage in CSR reporting. There is an indication that the presence of PCs on boards can strengthen the effect of female directors on firms’ CSR reporting. Third, the presence of female directors on corporate boards has a stronger relationship with CSR reporting in PEFs than in non-PEFs. The study concludes that both BGD and PCs on corporate boards positively influence the diffusion of CSR-related practices in the Chinese business environment

The Role of Trade Openness and Oil Price on Exchange Rate: ARDL Bound Testing Evidence from Nigeria

The nexus between oil price and exchange rate has been explored widely in the theoretical and empirical literatures revealing factors that influence exchange rate fluctuation. Therefore, this research examines the role of trade openness and oil price on the behaviour of exchange rate in Nigeria. We applied Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach to cointegration based on annual time series data from 1982 to 2014. The variables are cointegrated indicating that they exhibit long run relationship. Also, the estimated value of the error correction term is less than one, negative but significant. Exchange rate was found to be negatively dependent on trade openness in both the short run and the long run, while oil price was found to be negative and insignificant in the long run. The policy implication of these findings is that high dependency on oil price is not favorable to exchange rate determination in Nigeria. There is need to diversify the source of foreign revenue especially to the non-oil sectors such as agriculture, mines and industry and manufacturing to reduce the extreme burden and the negative consequences of over dependence on oil and the volatility in its price on Nigeria’s economy. Keywords: exchange rate, oil price, trade openness, error correction ter

AUDIT TENURE, AUDIT INDEPENDENCE, AUDIT COMMITTEE INDEPENDENCE, BOARD INDEPENDENCE, AND AUDIT QUALITY IN THE LISTED DEPOSIT MONEY BANKS IN NIGERIA: THE MODERATING EFFECT OF INSTITUTIONAL OWNERSHIP

The study examined the moderating effect of institutional ownership on relationship between audit tenure, audit independence, board independence and audit quality of listed deposit money banks (LDMBs) in Nigeria. The study population comprises 14 LDMBs on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at 31st December, 2020. 13 LDMBs were used as sample of the study. Logit regression technique was used as a tool of data analysis. Findings of the study revealed that, in the direct relationship, audit independence, board independence and institutional ownership have significant effect on the audit quality of LDMBs in Nigeria. The finding of the moderated model of the study reveals that institutional ownership has a significant negative moderating role on the relationship between audit tenure, audit independence, board independence and audit quality of LDMBs. It is therefore recommended among others that listed deposit money banks in Nigeria should ensure that they consider long-term institutional shareholding since those with a long-term stake have the motivation to monitor management and thereby, requesting a better audit quality through BIG4 auditors

Audit committee characteristics and financial reporting quality in Nigeria : the mediating effect of audit quality

This study examines the mediating effect of audit quality (AQ) proxied by audit fees and Big 4 auditors on the relationship between the audit committee (AC) characteristics and financial reporting quality (FRQ) of listed companies in Nigeria. The study employed 88 firms listed in the Nigerian Stock Exchange through 440 firm-year observations for five years ranging from 2012 to 2016. A multiple regression was employed to test the mediation using the Baron and Kenny and Sobel Tests. The findings reveal that the AC size, AC independence, AC financial accounting experts (ACFAEs), AC legal experts (ACLEs), female AC members (FACMs), AC stock ownership (ACSO), and AC tenure are negatively and significantly associated with the discretionary accruals (DA) and income smoothing (IS) behaviour of firms. In contrast, it is documented that the AC chair cannot be relied upon in minimising agency problems in a situation where the committee is chaired by a shareholder. The study shows that the AC size, AC independence, ACFAEs, ACLEs, and ACSO are positively related to AQ. It is established that AC meetings, FACMs, AC tenure, and AC chair are inversely related to AQ. It is also established that a higher audit fee is associated with lower DA and lower IS. Moreover, the mediation model reveals that audit fees partially and significantly mediate the relationships amongst the AC size, ACFAEs, ACLEs, FACMs, ACSO, and FRQ. This study recommends that the Nigerian SEC should, in the review of subsequent codes, recognise the presence of independent directors and legal experts in the AC as they are found to be effective monitors in constraining artificial smoothing. However, the regulators should be cautious about shareholders serving as chairpersons of the AC, and emphasis should be placed on the financial expertise and experience rather than relying on the status of the shareholders

Dividend policy and political uncertainty: Does firm maturity matter?

Previous evidence has shown that numerous factors influence dividend policy, but how political uncertainty affects a firm’s cash dividend policy remains blurry. This study examines the relationship between cash dividends and political uncertainty in Nigeria. More so, the study analyses whether this relationship prevails on matured and non-matured firms. The study employed ordinary least squares dummy variable (LSDV) approach with robust standard error on a data set of non-financial listed Nigerian firms. The results revealed that political uncertainty strongly influences firm’s cash dividend, and a matured firm tends to pay greater dividends than non-matured firms (firms with more growth options). Thus, this finding suggests that matured firms pay more dividends during period of political uncertainty. Consequently, the study supported the agency theory and the life cycle theory

Audit Tenure, Audit Independence, Audit Committee Independence, Board Independence, and Audit Quality in the Listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria: The Moderating Effect of Institutional Ownership

The study examined the moderating effect of institutional ownership on relationship between audit tenure, audit independence, board independence and audit quality of listed deposit money banks (LDMBs) in Nigeria. The study population comprises 14 LDMBs on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at 31st December, 2020. 13 LDMBs were used as sample of the study. Logit regression technique was used as a tool of data analysis. Findings of the study revealed that, in the direct relationship, audit independence, board independence and institutional ownership have significant effect on the audit quality of LDMBs in Nigeria. The finding of the moderated model of the study reveals that institutional ownership has a significant negative moderating role on the relationship between audit tenure, audit independence, board independence and audit quality of LDMBs. It is therefore recommended among others that listed deposit money banks in Nigeria should ensure that they consider long-term institutional shareholding since those with a long-term stake have the motivation to monitor management and thereby, requesting a better audit quality through BIG4 auditors

Analysis of Foreign Direct Investment Inflows of BRICS Countries for Pre-Pandemic Period and during Pandemic Crisis

In the summit held in 2009, the leaders of Brazil, Russia, India China, and South Africa decided to identify themselves as a formal institution, and BRICS was declared as a formal institution in the year 2010. According to the UNCTAD report, these nations are identified as favored destinations for investments in FDI (Supachai, 2009). BRICS countries being recognized for their plenary FDI are also facing difficulty in attracting FDI inflows due to pandemic crises. FDI boosts entrepreneurship and is a great source of employment to millions. Thus there is a necessity to focus on the growth of FDI Inflows. The main purpose of this research is to study the growth trend of Foreign Direct Investment inflows of Brazil, Russia, China, India, and South Africa. The Study concentrated on seven years’ data (2014-2020) of FDI inflows collected from the statistics published by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and International Monetary Fund (IMF). The data were analysed using Trend Percentages, CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate), Mean Scores, ANOVA, and LSD Post Hoc test. The results of the analysis showed that China bags the first rank in attracting FDI and South Africa stands last in attracting FDI among BRICS countries. The study also revealed that there is a significant difference in the FDI inflows amongst BRICS Countries

Effects of Electricity Supply on Economic Growth in Nigeria (1980-2012): Vector Autoregressive Approach

This research work is on the effect of electricity supply on economic growth in Nigeria between 1980 and 2012, a period of thirty two (32) years. Nigeria is seen as one of the greatest developing nations in Africa with highly endowed natural resources including potential electricity resources. However, increasing access to electricity in Nigeria has proved to be not only a continuous challenge but also a pressing issue with the international community. The study therefore analysed the effect of electricity supply on economic growth in Nigeria utilising secondary data with real gross domestic product (RGDP) as the dependent variable; and electricity supply, electricity generation, capital and labour as independent variables. Analytical techniques of Vector autoregressive (VAR) method, lag length selection criteria, variance decomposition and impulse response function were employed. The main or target VAR equation was transformed to system of equations and estimated through the Newey- Heteroskedasticity and autocorrelation (HAC) consistent covariance OLS estimator to enable objective determination of the effect of electricity supply on economic growth in Nigeria. Results indicate that the influence of electricity supply on economic growth is statistically significant; electricity generation has a positive relationship and also significant impact on the economy, while electricity supply negatively impacts economic growth. Despite the huge money which government claimed she is spending on the power sector, this study found that it has not been yielding desired positive effect on economic growth. Efforts should be directed at increasing electricity generation, ensuring effective monitoring of the activities of the newly established/private sector driven electricity generation companies (GENCOS) and distribution companies (DISCOS), curbing mismanagement to achieve efficient utilisation of energy resources and the training and retraining of staff in the power sector with a view to enhancing electricity supply for sustainable economic growth and development of Nigeria. Keywords: electricity supply, vector autoregressive (VAR) method, variance decomposition, impulse response, lag length selection criteria