Corporate board gender, institutional strength and energy disclosure in Nigeria
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/JCEFTS-09-2021-0057 |
| Published date | 27 May 2022 |
| Date | 27 May 2022 |
| Pages | 316-331 |
| Subject Matter | Economics,International economics |
| Author | Rabiu Saminu Jibril,Muhammad Aminu Isa,Zaharaddeen Salisu Maigoshi |
Corporate board gender,
institutional strength and energy
disclosure in Nigeria
Rabiu Saminu Jibril
Department of Accountancy, Kano State Polytechnic, Kano, Nigeria, and
Muhammad Aminu Isa and Zaharaddeen Salisu Maigoshi
Department of Accounting, Bayero University, Kano, Nigeria
Abstract
Purpose –The study aims to evaluate the impact of corporate board gender on the energy disclosure
with moderating effect of institutional strength (global competitiveness index) by the listed firms in
Nigeria.
Design/methodology/approach –The study uses a sampleof 49 non-financial firms listed on the floor
of the Nigerian stock exchange commissionfor the period of five years (2016–2020). The study uses content
analysis techniquesto obtain data on environmental disclosure throughthe use of Global Reporting Initiative
standards from the sampledfirms. Random and fixed effect regression analyses were run for bothdirect and
moderation models. Based on the results of the Hausman tests, random results were adopted and used in
examiningthe relationship among research variables.
Findings –The study revealed average energydisclosure by the sampled firms. The overall results of the
regression analysis found that board gender diversity is significantly related to energy disclosure. The
institutional strength moderation result was found to have an insignificant impact on the relationship
between boardgender and energy disclosure.
Research limitations/implications –The study is constrainedby not considering all environmentally
sensitive firms in the country. Furthermore, the study considered only gender among numerous important
board attributes. Hence, other important board attributes should be assessed for better energy disclosure.
Future studiesshould consider data from all sensitivefirms and other board attributes.
Practical implications –Recently, the Nigerian Government mandates all firms to comply with
environmental disclosurein Nigeria, this should be used as a way forward to encourageand compel all listed
firms to improvetheir energy disclosure.
Social implications –With diverse and vibrant women on boards, firms would benefit and gain
legitimacy across demographic, ethnic and religious groups in the society. Hence, corporate bodies can
effectivelycontribute toward enhancing the social welfare of various segmentsof society.
Originality/value –To the best of the authors’knowledge, this is the first study that provides empirical
evidence on the effect of board gender attributes on the energy disclosure using institutional strength as a
moderatorin Nigeria.
Keywords Board gender, Diversity, Energy disclosure, Institutional strength
Paper type Research paper
1. Introduction
The rapid increases in the operation of manufacturing and services firms have a serious
negative environmental impact. The firm’s activities are carried out to increase economic
activities within the country.However, in the course of doing their operation, there is serious
toxins released into the environmentwhich affects the lives of inhabitants and communities
in general. This led to different diseases, socialunrest and land degradation within the host
JCEFTS
15,3
316
Journalof Chinese Economic and
ForeignTrade Studies
Vol.15 No. 3, 2022
pp. 316-331
© Emerald Publishing Limited
1754-4408
DOI 10.1108/JCEFTS-09-2021-0057
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
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community. Thus, there is a need for the firms to be environmentally concerned through
sound environmental reporting practices (Aureli et al.,2020;Fallan and Fallan, 2019;
Fonseka et al.,2019).
Energy consumption is oneof the big environmental challenges that threaten and causes
environmental issues globally. As a result of energy consumption by manufacturing and
services firms, the level of industrial pollution is increasingly worrying the world’s well-
being. Pollution caused by energy sourcessuch as fossil fuel combustion and various gases
and toxins released from factories has become one of the greatest global health calamities
that cause diseases which include cardiovascular damage, respiratory diseases, damage of
reproductive organs and the nervoussystem (Efobi et al.,2018;Kasim, 2017;Lodungi et al.,
2016;Ojekunle et al.,2018;Zhang and Xie, 2020). Industrial pollution mismanagement has
become a global matter of ecological contamination, social inclusion and economic
sustainability,which requires integrated assessment and holistic approachesfor solution.
Environmental disclosure is an accounting reporting requirement which requires firms
to report all the externalities and measures taken to mitigate their effect on society.
Environmental reporting practices are means of communicating to the stakeholders the
efforts made by firms to reduce or compensate the negative effect of their activities on the
environment and its host community (Atif et al.,2020;Plumlee et al., 2015;Sial et al., 2021;
Sun et al.,2020). Thus, a firm would become environmentally responsible when it
incorporates environmental accounting as part of its business strategy and accounts for its
environment by disclosing its interventionto mitigating the negative operational impact on
the environment (Ellimäkiet al.,2019;Manitaet al.,2018).
The earth is overwhelmed by environmental harms that diminish natural resources and
strain livelihoods, many of which are exacerbatedby poor industrial practices (Giannarakis
et al.,2018;Wang et al., 2020). In view of this, it is now clear that the firms need to disclose all
the efforts they make to conserve the environment and support provided to the immediate
community to cushionthe effect of their activities on their environment.
As the board is responsible for ensuring corporate reporting, females on board can play
an important role in determining what to disclose and the extent of disclosure in the
financial report because of their usual commitment to the compliance requirements within
and outside the organization. Therefore, gender diversity indicates that female director on
boards could possess and contributes to a greater variety of backgrounds and knowledge,
signifying different points of view that lead to better strategic decision making which will
lead to more disclosure inrelation to energy disclosure and overall environmental issues(Al-
qahtani and Elgharbawy,2019;Khaireddine, 2020;Tingbani et al.,2020).
Prior studies documented evidence that board attributes have significant positive and
negative impacts on environmental disclosure globally. These studies were centered in
developed countries(Baalouch et al., 2019;Consuelo et al., 2018;Cucari et al.,2017;Fernandes
et al., 2018;Husted and Sousa-Filho,2019;Khaireddine, 2020;Liao et al.,2014;Moussa, 2019;
Qureshi et al., 2019;Tingbani et al.,2020) and some in emerging economies (Kathy et al.,
2012;Aliyu, 2018;Ofoegbuet al.,2018;Alipour et al., 2019;Otchere et al.,2019;Rezaee, 2019;
Kilincarslan et al.,2020;Shahab and Chen, 2020;Sial et al.,2021;Haladu and Bin-Nashwan,
2021;Mohammad and Wasiuzzaman, 2021). To this end, only one study (Fakoya and
Nakeng, 2019) found to be conductedon the effect of energy disclosure. Therefore, this study
intends to contribute to the existing body of knowledge by assessing the effect of board
gender, institutionalstrength and energy disclosure in Nigeria.
Globally, environmental matters attract greater attention from international policies
administrators.Therefore, compliance with the institutional environmentpolicy of a country
depends on the efficiency of both public and private stakeholders with regard to effective
Corporate
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