Corporate ethical standard and the quality of sustainability reporting: empirical evidence from commercial banks in nigeria

Compliance with legal requirements is mandatory for corporate entities in Nigeria, but decision making in a situation that is not legally binding relies on the ethical standard of the company. Sustainability reporting in Nigeria is voluntary, therefore the quality of disclosure is at the discretion of company leadership. This study evaluated the ethical behaviour of Nigerian commercial banks and how it affects their sustainability disclosure quality. The Focus was on the proportion of each bank’s corporate annual reports that contain environmental disclosure, social responsibility disclosure and governance disclosure. Information on the banks’ websites that relate to sustainability policies or activities were also considered. This work includes an extensive review of relevant literature, hinging the study on legitimacy theory. The Crosssectional research design was utilized in undertaking the study. A sample of fourteen (14) commercial banks was selected from the companies listed on the Nigerian stock exchange and analysed for a period of 2008-2017 financial years. Pearson Correlation and Multivariate Linear model analysis were employed to test the hypotheses. Findings revealed a positive relationship between corporate ethical standard and sustainability disclosure of Nigerian commercial banks. The level of corporate ethical standard in Nigerian banks causes significant positive change in environmental reporting quality, social responsibility reporting quality and governance reporting quality. It is hereby, recommended that company leadership should build strong corporate ethical culture since it directly affects their sustainability. While quality sustainability reporting practice is beneficial to the reporting entity, stakeholders and environment

Corporate environmental reputation management and financial performance of environmentally sensitive companies in Nigeria

Business activities have direct and indirect effects on their immediate environment. The degree of impact a business venture would have on the environment depends on the nature of business. This work examines the impact of environmental reputation management on the financial performance of environmentally sensitive companies in Nigeria. This work includes an extensive review of relevant literature, hinging this research on stakeholder theory. Data were gathered from corporate annual reports and sustainability reports sourced on-line. The analytical research design was utilised in undertaking the study. A sample of 46 companies was selected from public limited liability companies listed on the Nigerian stock exchange and operating in environmentally sensitive sectors. The corporate reports were analysed from 2008 to 2017 financial years. Linear Regression analysis was employed to test the hypothesis. Findings revealed a significant positive relationship between corporate environmental reporting quality and financial performance; reputation risk management and financial performance of environmentally sensitive companies in Nigeria. The level of environmental reporting quality by environmentally sensitive companies in Nigeria causes 13.1% change in the financial performance of the reporting company. Corporate reputation risk management of environmentally sensitive companies in Nigeria causes 11.4% change in the company’s financial performance. It is hereby, recommended that environmentally sensitive companies should ensure high-quality environmental reputation management to achieve their profit maximisation aim. This high-level environmental management contributes to the achievement of the fifteenth sustainable development goal (life on land), set to attain sustainable management of forests, freshwater and ecosystem