Board Size and Composition and Corporate Performance: the Case of Non- Financial Companies on the Nigerian stock Exchange

The rampant corporate failures in recent times both within and outside Nigeria make corporate governance issue an interesting and important area of research in Accounting.  The cases of Enron, Xerox, Adelphia et cetera internationally and Cadbury, NITEL, NEPA, NRC and many banks in Nigeria are very well known. Interestingly the Board of Directors as the top management of these corporate entities is where the bulk stops. The quality of the board, its efficiency and by extension the corporate performance of the entity could be affected by the size and composition of the Board as a critical element of corporate governance. Precisely the question is asked, if at all, to what extent do Board size, Board composition/structure, and frequency of board meetings and regularity of attendance at meetings by board members impact the corporate performance of companies? This paper uses opinions of company administrators and managers to assess their perception on the impact of Board size and composition and the related variables on the financial performance of Non-Financial Companies quoted on the Nigerian stock exchange. A total of 72 companies selected through the Taro Yameni formula were selected and three copies of a structured questionnaire administered to three top ranking managers/accountants in each company to get their perception of the impact of these board characteristics on the corporate governance and performance of these companies. The Micro soft Special Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used to analyze the responses presented in a 5-point likert scale. The regression showed that there is a significant positive relationship between the Board size, composition, frequency of meetings, regularity of members’ attendance   and performance of quoted non financial companies. R, the correlation coefficient which has a value of 0.977, indicates that there is a significant positive relationship between the Board size, composition, frequency of meetings, regularity of members’ attendance   and performance of quoted companies.  R square, the coefficient of determination, shows that (B = -02.0%; C= 80.4%; F= -22.2%; R= 40.7%) of the variation in the performance of quoted companies is explained by the model. More specifically, a higher percentage outside board membership leads to a higher corporate performance and the fewer the overall size of the Board, the higher the corporate performance. It is therefore recommended among others that the Board should not be unnecessarily weighty in size but more importantly, the Board should be composed more of outsiders with proven integrity, acumen, experience and skill in corporate management. This is expected to reduce drastically the spate of corporate failures as good corporate governance is engendered Key words: Board of Directors, Corporate performance, corporate governance

Financial Decision and Poverty Nexus in Nigeria

The study examines the relationship between poverty and financial decision in Nigeria so as to ascertain if poverty has an impact on the quality of financial decisions taken by the poor and financially vulnerable individuals. The study utilised a unique methodology (truncated regression) and applied a survey data from the Afrobarometer dataset to investigate the quality of loan usage among the extreme poor in Nigeria. We allowed for the inclusion of other policy relevant variables that may likely inform the direction of new generation poverty alleviation policies like gender, education and age of the individuals. We find that the extremely poor group use more of the loans for other non-developmental issues like funeral and marriage celebrations than for productive and poverty alleviating ventures. However, the younger males engage more in this act than the females. Also, as the poor become more educated, they are able to use more of the loan for development-oriented investments like purchase of assets, building houses and even furthering their education. A major policy implication of this result is that loans should be directed towards younger individuals, and education should be a focal priority in selecting who to fund

Macroeconomic Performance and Government Fiscal Deficits - Evidence from Nigeria

Governments in most developing economies, including Nigeria, have often had to contend with issues of weak economic and social indicators vis-à-vis poor fiscal performance. In Nigeria for instance, there is evidence that between 1981 and 2014 fiscal operations have been dominated by fiscal deficits while major indicators of economic health have remained at sub-optimal levels. There has been considerable disagreement on the relationship between fiscal deficits and economic performance. As our contribution towards the resolution of this contentious issue, this study examines the relationship between the performance of key macroeconomic indicators (exchange rate, inflation rate, gross fixed capital formation and unemployment) and fiscal deficits. Data on the research variables covering the period 1981-2014 were sourced from the publications of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS). Employing the econometric methodology of the vector error correction model (VECM), the study shows significant positive effect of gross fixed capital formation as well as significant negative impact of inflation rate and unemployment on fiscal deficits in Nigeria. Though, there is evidence of negative effect of exchange rate, the study shows it is not significant. These results imply that policies aimed at enhancing the infrastructure base of the economy promote the practice of deficit budgeting, Similarly, economic policies that tend to reduce inflation (such as raising domestic output levels) and unemployment reflect in higher fiscal deficits. The causality tests show evidence of causal impact of government fiscal deficits on exchange rate, inflation rate and unemployment but failed to show evidence of causation between fiscal deficits and gross fixed capital formation. It is recommended that government should ensure prudent utilization of the proceeds of debt finance in promoting domestic production in order to strengthen the economic fundamentals required to support improved fiscal performance in the long-ru

Financial System Development and Real Sector Performance in Nigeria

This paper examines the relationship between financial sector development and real sector pe1jormance in Nigeria using d{lta over the period 1986-2014. Owing to the dominant role of the banking sub-sector in the Nigerian financial system. it was adopted as proxy for the financial sector. Exchange rate. national sOl'ing rate, interest rate and financial depth were adopted as proxies for financial qevelopmentwhile ratio of industrial output to GDP 11~s adopted as proxy for real sector performance. Lending rate was adopted as the relevant interest rate for the study. Econometric method of the · vector error ~orrection mode/was used to estimate the magnitude and direction of the impact of the exogenous mriables on the endogenous variable as well as the speed of adjustment of the system to short-run disequilibrium. The short-run estimate shows significant negative effect of national saving rate and financial deepening on the real sector. There is no evidence of significant effect of exchange rate and lending rate on the performance of the sector during the period of the study. Estimated long·11m coefficients show significant negative impact of exchange rate and lending rate on real sector output. There is also evidence of non-significant positive impact of national sat·ing rate and non-significan/ negatire impact of financing deepening on real sector pe1jormance. This result indicates that as exchangot rate becomes more volatile during the reform period, output of the real sector is adt·ersely affected. On the other hand. though reforms associated with financial sector development in post-SAP era led to high lending rate. the real sector became more efficient in resource utili:ation and hence had higher productivity growth. Therefore, the study concludes that development of the financial system has supported real sector in Nigeria through efficiency gains from resource allocation and utili=ation

The (ab)use of import duty waivers in Nigeria

An increasingly popular but disturbing method of misappropriating government revenue in Nigeria is the practice of granting all manner of indiscriminate waivers of tariffs and duties on imported commodities under the directive of the Presidency. This paper critiques the law, use and abuse of duty waivers in Nigeria. It argues that although the President, on the advice of the Tariff Council, has powers to grant waivers, such powers are neither supposed to be granted indiscriminately nor in secret. The granting of indiscriminate waivers to individual operators in an industry rather than to the entire industry distorts national economic and industrial development which is normally the very essence of granting such waivers. The paper also raises questions about the implications of the granting of indiscriminate duty waivers by the Presidency for fiscal relationships in a federal state.ASC – Publicaties niet-programma gebonde

Optimization of Mechanical Properties of Bonded Particle Boards Produced From Agricultural Waste Wood Chips

The aim of this research work was to optimize the production of particle boards from agricultural waste (wood chips). The mechanical properties investigated were the modulus of elasticity (MOE) and modulus of rupture (MOR). The production of particle boards was investigated under the following conditions: stacking time (14-21days), resin loading (386-463 g) and amount of agro residue (154-185 g) using Box-Behnken design. Statistically significant models (p<0.05) were developed to represent the relationship between the responses (MOE and MOR) and the independent variables. Both models showed significant fit with experimental data with R2 values of 0.99 and 0.97 respectively. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results showed that MOE and MOR were influenced by the stacking time, amount of resin and agro residue used. Response surface methodology (RSM) was used to optimize the MOE and MOR and the optimization results showed that the maximum MOE and MOR values of 1114.09N/mm2 and 9.34 N/mm2 were respectively obtained at the optimum production conditions of stacking time, resin loading and amount of agro residue (i.e. 21days, 462.82g and 185.00 g respectively). The particle board produced at the optimized conditions satisfied the American National Standard Institute ANSI/A208.1-1999 specification for general purpose particle boards

Growth status and menarcheal age among adolescent school girls in Wannune, Benue State, Nigeria

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Menarcheal age is a sensitive indicator of environmental conditions during childhood. The aim of study is to determine the age at menarche and growth status in adolescents in a rural area of Tarka, Wannune, Nigeria.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Data on 722 female students (aged 12-18 years) were collected in February 2009. Height and weight were measured. Body mass index (BMI; kg m^-2) was used as an index of relative weight.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Mean and median menarcheal age calculated by probit analysis were 13.02 (SD 3.0) (95% CI: 13.02-13.07), and age 13.00 (SD 2.8) (95% CI: 12.98-13.04), respectively. Girls who reach menarche are significantly heavier and taller with higher BMIs than those of their pre-menarcheal peers.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The age of menarche is probably still declining in Nigeria. Although BMI is an important factor in the onset of menstruation, some other unmeasured environmental variables may be implicated in this population.</p

Review: Recent developments in the Renin-Angiotensin system and its role in health disease

…………………. Ebonyi Medical Journal Vol. 5 (1) 2006: pp. 32-4