AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN FIRMS CHARACTERISTICS AND CORPORATE SOCIAL DISCLOSURES IN THE NIGERIAN FINANCIAL SECTOR

Abstract

This paper investigates the association between firms' characteristics and the level of corporate social disclosures in the Nigerian financial sector. Using the judgmental sampling technique, a total of 31 listed firms have been selected for this study based on their level of market capitalization and direct financing of most firms from the manufacturing industry. Also, using the content analysis method of eliciting data, a scoring scheme was used for measuring the extent of corporate social disclosure in the annual report. The study observed that a positive association existed between a firm's characteristics and the level of corporate social disclosure. In addition, the paper observed that corporate social disclosures by listed firms are still in its infancy. The paper therefore calls for standard setting bodies to put in place a corporate social environmental reporting framework, in order to improve the level of corporate social disclosures among of listed firms in the financial industry.