OWNERSHIP STRUCTURE AND VOLUNTARY DISCLOSURE OF LISTED INDUSTRIAL GOODS COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

This study is on ownership structure and voluntary disclosure of listed industrial goods companies in Nigeria. The total population for the study is 200 staff of Dangote group of company, Lagos state. The researcher used questionnaires as the instrument for the data collection. Descriptive Survey research design was adopted for this study. A total of 133 respondents made managers, production managers, cashiers and junior staff were used for the study. The data collected were presented in tables and analyzed using simple percentages and frequencies

 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

• Background of the study

Annual reports are the primary medium various stakeholders rely on for making decisions. Thus management, responsible for preparing the annual reports, is accountable to all the stakeholders. As a result, they should disclose all relevant information in the annual reports for stakeholders to make efficient economic decisions. In addition, increased disclosures of information, apart from the ones required by the standards and the regulators are important. These additional disclosures protect the interest of minority shareholders and ensure transparency of company’s information to its interested parties. Meek, Roberts and Gray (1995), define voluntary corporate disclosure as disclosures in excess of requirements in annual reports and other media as deemed relevant by the company management for an effective decision-making by the users of the financial reports. However, agency theory assumes a separation of ownership from control would lead to agency problems, as the agents will not always maximize the shareholder value. And hence, the incentive for the management to provide additional disclosures decreases. Moreover, the controlling shareholders in a company mostly maximize their self-interest rather than that of the minority shareholders. Thus, there is increased emphasis on the need to ensure the protection of the interests of minority shareholders. Minority shareholders are entitled to receive all relevant information to make an informed judgment on the performance of the company. Disclosure of less voluntary information to the minority shareholders is one way controlling shareholders expropriate minority shareholders. Most of the disclosure studies examining the association between ownership structure and voluntary disclosure were conducted elsewhere around the world (such as Eng & Mak 2003, Ghazali & Weetman 2006, El-Gazzar 1998, and Barako, Hancock & Izan 2006). However, the impact of ownership structure on corporate voluntary disclosure practices, remains unexplored in emerging stock markets especially Nigeria. The main objective of this study is to examine the impact of ownership structure on voluntary disclosure in the Nigerian listed industrial goods companies

• STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Voluntary disclosure information is very pertinent to stakeholders of’ an organization but it has been noted that quite a number of companies do not engage in voluntary disclosure of information must companies comply with the mandatory disclosure requirements and end it there this should not actually be the case. It is has therefore become of’ utmost importance to trace the root cause of lack of voluntary disclosure in companies and determine what exact responsible for their lagging behind. Could it be as a result of mere ignorance or the fact that they have something to hide or simply because the performance achieved is not commensurate with the expectations of stakeholders. Corporate disclosure of financial information became an important issue in Nigeria following the financial crisis of 2008.