The effects of different institutional investors and board of director characteristics on corporate social responsibility of public listed companies: the case of Nigeria

This thesis investigates the effects of institutional investors and board of director (BOD) characteristics on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) of Public Listed Companies (PLCs) in Nigeria. This study is motivated by the lack of empirical studies in Nigeria concerning the role of different institutional investors and BOD on CSR. More specifically, this study uses multi-method approaches: firstly, the case study method involving in-depth interviews, documentary data followed by postal survey. Secondly, the Pooled Ordinary Least Square, random effect and fixed effect estimators were used to estimate the balanced panel of 174 PLCs from 2003 to 2009. The study finds no significant relationship between different types of institutional investors and CSR. Also, while the Non-Executive Directors (NEDs) and board size show a positive relationship with CSR, the executive directors and board diversity show a negative and significant relationship with CSR. This thesis not only contributes to the understanding of how BOD characteristics and how the role of institutional investors’ affect CSR, but it also fills the gap in the methodologies employed in the corporate governance and CSR studies in Nigeria. This is useful for an emerging market economy like Nigeria in areas of policy making and for companies to improve on their CSR practices in host communities. In addition, the study reveals the absence of the role of institutional investors and BOD characteristics in strengthening the corporate governance mechanism in developing countries and the significance of filling the gap by supporting the formation of the ethical code of conduct and business standard for best practices. Secondly, the study reveals that CSR in developing countries are strategic in nature and linked to the corporate philosophies of companies. The implications of this study are that the interest of the managers should be aligned to the stakeholder interest; this is to ensure the long term survival of the company and to create a win-win situation between the company and community

The Role of Ethnic Directors in Corporate Social Responsibility: Does Culture matter? The Cultural Trait Theory Perspectives

This paper investigates the effect of cultural differences between ethnic directors on corporate social responsibility (CSR) of Public Liability Companies (PLCs) in Nigeria. Using the cultural trait theory, the study focuses on how the ethnic directors are influenced when making decisions concerning CSR. Adopting multiple regression analysis of data, the study investigates the three major ethnic groups (Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa) and finds cultural differences between the ethnic directors affect the adoption of CSR. Empirical results indicate that ethnic directors (Yoruba, Igbo and Hausa) were positively and significantly related to CSR. The paper contributes to the corporate governance and CSR debate concerning how ethnic directors’ decisions impact on CSR activities, particularly on the directors who are individualistic and collectivists towards CSR

The effect of culture on Corporate Governance Practices in Nigeria

This study focuses on the effect of culture on the application of corporate governance practices in Nigeria. Corporate governance has been receiving serious attention in emerging markets over the past two decades. But relatively little attention has been given to the study on corporate governance in a country study. The current situations in Nigerian public and private sectors such as the corporate scandal resulting from Lever Brothers Nigeria plc, Siemens, Shell, Halliburton, and Cadbury Nigeria plc, have shown that the issue of fraud, corruption, and corporate scandals cannot be overlooked. Most top management, as this study argues, bring in beliefs acquired from their early childhood into their senior management roles and responsibilities. This study adopts a grounded theory and reports on the effect of culture on the implementation of corporate governance in Nigeria. Based on the interview with 32 staffs, this study identifies the effect of culture that shapes corporate governance and they include abuse of power by top management, weak legal framework, poor recruitment and ineffective control. Although having efficient corporate governance is worth pursuing, this depends on the power of top management, the strength of internal control procedures and the legal framework put in place by management