Acta Universitatis Danubius. Œconomica, Vol 15, No 3 (2019)

Abstract

This paper examined if corporate governance and ethics play a fundamental role in the vagaries in financial reporting in Nigeria.   Expo-facto design and secondary data from annual reports and accounts and Nigerian Stock Exchange Factbook of selected quoted manufacturing firms during 2002-2017 were obtained.  Governance measures of board gender diversity (BGD) and board chairman shares ownership (BCSO), as well as ethics was measured by dummy variables.  Fixed and random effects regression models were employed to validate the nexus between the dependent (financial reporting) and independent (corporate governance and ethics) variables.  Based on the analysis, of data, it was revealed that corporate governance and ethics have a major role in the vicissitudes in financial reporting, especially in the aspect of performance measures of corporate entities.  Also, it was found that corporate governance measures of board gender diversity and board chairman shares ownership and ethics jointly and significantly influence financial reporting among quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria.  Hence, it was recommended among others that regulatory bodies of quoted companies in Nigeria should established more governance codes that help in including more women on the board as well as emphasizing board chairman shares ownership so as to promote financial reporting of quoted companies in Nigeria.  In addition, SEC should ensure that codes of governance provisions be strictly adhered to by quoted companies as it will promote transparency and accountability in financial reporting.