Accrual - Based Earnings Management, Corporate Policies and Managerial Decisions of Quoted Companies in Nigeria

Managers use a variety of strategies to deliberately manipulate company earnings to match a predetermined target by performing certain activities that alter or smooth income, achieve high earnings level or sway company share prices. This study examines the relationship and effects of managerial decisions on earnings management of companies in Nigeria using directors’ remunerations, dividend payments, changes in earnings, and changes in total net assets as surrogates for corporate managerial policies and decisions. The study relies on secondary data derived from various companies’ financial statements and the Nigerian Stock Exchange fact book to determine and measure the level of earnings manipulations of corporate financial statements, applying an all-inclusive multivariate analysis. The empirical analysis shows that earnings management intensity, measured by the absolute values of discretionary accruals reflects mixed outcomes when regressed on change in profits, dividend policy, directors’ remunerations and change in assets values. The finding suggests a need to further study board room dynamics as managerial decisions investigated in isolation may not provide a satisfactory clarification to the causal effects of earnings management. Perhaps, these accounts for the clear polarity in empirical conclusions since firm specific effects may well interface with managerial decisions structure. Keywords: Corporate Earnings, Directors’ remunerations, Discretionary accruals, dividend Payments, Earnings management, Net total assets

Parameter estimation for contact tracing in graph-based models

We adopt a maximum-likelihood framework to estimate parameters of a stochastic susceptible-infected-recovered (SIR) model with contact tracing on a rooted random tree. Given the number of detectees per index case, our estimator allows to determine the degree distribution of the random tree as well as the tracing probability. Since we do not discover all infectees via contact tracing, this estimation is non-trivial. To keep things simple and stable, we develop an approximation suited for realistic situations (contract tracing probability small, or the probability for the detection of index cases small). In this approximation, the only epidemiological parameter entering the estimator is $R_0$. The estimator is tested in a simulation study and is furthermore applied to covid-19 contact tracing data from India. The simulation study underlines the efficiency of the method. For the empirical covid-19 data, we compare different degree distributions and perform a sensitivity analysis. We find that particularly a power-law and a negative binomial degree distribution fit the data well and that the tracing probability is rather large. The sensitivity analysis shows no strong dependency of the estimates on the reproduction number. Finally, we discuss the relevance of our findings.Comment: 19 pages, 8 figures, 3 table

Sustainability Reporting and Financial Performance of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria

This study examines how sustainability reporting is useful for assessing the financial performance of listed Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria. Specifically, the study focuses on the economic, environmental and social dimensions of sustainability reporting using “Return on Assets”, “Return on Equity” and “Earnings per Share” as proxies for financial performance of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria from 2012 to 2018. The sample of the study was restricted to seventeen deposit money banks out of twenty one Banks quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange as at December, 2018. The required data were collected from audited annual financial statements and “sustainability reports” of the selected Deposit Money Banks for the period. A detailed analysis of the three bottom lines of profit (economic), people (social) and planet (environmental) impact was conducted. The descriptive and least squares regression analysis were adopted for the study considering the banks’ sustainability reporting practices against the selected performance proxies. The study concludes that sustainability reporting practices of Banks in Nigeria have substantial impacts on the financial performances of Deposit Money Banks in Nigeria. The study recommends that enabling legislations should be put in place to mandate enhanced sustainability practices among all deposit money banks in Nigeria as well as facilitate meaningful evaluation and measurement of earnings, social and environmental impacts in all areas of bank operations in Nigeria

South Africa’s interest rate behaviour: Investigating the influence of the indicators of financial openness

This study seeks to investigate the influence of financial openness variables on South Africa’s interest rate during the period between1980-2020. The study used both Augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) and Philip-Perron (PP) tests to determine the order of integration of the variables, while the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds test was used to investigate both the short and long-run impact of the independent variables on the dependent variable. The findings of the study revealed that in the short-run both foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and FDI outflows impacted the interest rate positively. However, portfolio investment, exchange rate and capital account openness did not have any significant impact on interest rate within the duration of this research. The long-run results revealed that FDI inflows had a positive and significant impact on interest rate. Also, while capital account openness had a significant and positive impact on the interest rate, FDI outflows, portfolio investment, and the exchange rate had no significant impact on interest rate. The study concludes that apart from portfolio investment which did not exert significant impact on interest rate, other financial openness indicators used in the study had a significant impact on South Africa’s domestic interest rate. The paper argues that, appropriate monetary policy measures targeted to lessen the monetary impact of excess capital inflows should be considered.  Additionally, capital account liberalization policy should be encouraged, but it needs to be regulated if it places an excessive amount of liquidity pressure on the economy

The Impact of Audit Quality on the Share Prices of Quoted Companies in Nigeria

This study is used to determine whether Audit Quality has any significant impact on and relationship with Market Value per Share of companies in Nigeria. Archival data were extracted from annual reports of 57 companies quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) between 2006 and 2011. Audit Quality was estimated using Audit Firm Size, Audit Fees, Auditor Tenure and Audit Client Importance. Market Price per Share (MPS) was derived directly from CSCS Cash – Craft.  Multiple regression analyses were conducted on the data. The results of the tests show that Audit Quality exerts significant influence on the MPS of quoted companies in Nigeria. In order to improve the quality of audit and minimize earnings manipulations by firms in Nigeria, we recommend that regulatory agencies -  professional  accountancy bodies, Financial Reporting Council of Nigeria, the National Assembly, and  Securities and Exchange Commission should issue authoritative standard and  framework for audit quality; companies should improve their earnings quality only through sales growth, cost control and cost reduction strategies; companies in Nigeria should present distinct statements of earnings quality while auditors should conduct earnings quality assessment and issue Integrated Audit Quality Assurance Report by adapting or adopting current best practices statutorily backed by earnings monitoring of companies in Nigeria.   Keywords: Audit Quality, Earnings Reports, Financial Statements, Market price Per Shar

Responsibility to Protect and the Challenges of Displaced Men in Nigeria

This study addresses responsibility to protect and the challenges of displaced men in Nigeria. It argues that the challenges facing displaced people in Nigeria as a result of Boko Haram, natural and man-made disasters, as well as the Hausa-Fulani Mayhem are peculiar to all the IDPs irrespective of demographic disparities. It employs the use of qualitative and quantitative research methods drawing data from primary and secondary sources. Administering 256 questionnaires to men within the IDPs camp accompany with well structured interviews and focus group discussions with displaced men in Durumi Area 1 IDP camp Abuja. Secondary sources of data reviews existing literature from journals, online articles, and research projects. Findings show that the challenges of the men population ranging from starvation, water, hunger, electricity, accommodation shortages and lack of sustainable occupation foretell serious human security threats for the country. The study proposes relevant policies for government and other related agencies working with the IDPs; while, concluding that government should collaborate with individuals and organizations in providing vocational skills, that will help alleviate their plights

Emergence and spread of two SARS-CoV-2 variants of interest in Nigeria.

Identifying the dissemination patterns and impacts of a virus of economic or health importance during a pandemic is crucial, as it informs the public on policies for containment in order to reduce the spread of the virus. In this study, we integrated genomic and travel data to investigate the emergence and spread of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.1.318 and B.1.525 (Eta) variants of interest in Nigeria and the wider Africa region. By integrating travel data and phylogeographic reconstructions, we find that these two variants that arose during the second wave in Nigeria emerged from within Africa, with the B.1.525 from Nigeria, and then spread to other parts of the world. Data from this study show how regional connectivity of Nigeria drove the spread of these variants of interest to surrounding countries and those connected by air-traffic. Our findings demonstrate the power of genomic analysis when combined with mobility and epidemiological data to identify the drivers of transmission, as bidirectional transmission within and between African nations are grossly underestimated as seen in our import risk index estimates

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance.

Investment in severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing in Africa over the past year has led to a major increase in the number of sequences that have been generated and used to track the pandemic on the continent, a number that now exceeds 100,000 genomes. Our results show an increase in the number of African countries that are able to sequence domestically and highlight that local sequencing enables faster turnaround times and more-regular routine surveillance. Despite limitations of low testing proportions, findings from this genomic surveillance study underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic and illuminate the distinct dispersal dynamics of variants of concern-particularly Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron-on the continent. Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve while the continent faces many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century