The study examines the reaction of the Nigerian stock market to fluctuations in the mainstay of the Nigerian economy. Using time series data sourced from OPEC website and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Statistical Bulletin, we investigate the effect of oil price volatility on stock market returns in Nigeria during the period 1981 to 2017. Co-integration test established the long run relationship between variables, while, the Error Correction Model (ECM) and Pair-Wise Granger Causality test were used to ascertain the short run dynamics and the direction of causality between the variables of interest. The findings reveal among other things that Oil Price Volatility (OPV) has a non-significant positive effect on Stock Market Return (SMR) both in the short and long run period.  Exchange Rate (EXR) and Interest rate (INT) were significant variables that influence stock market return in Nigeria during the period under review.

PurposeThe study investigated the relationship between residual audit fee and real income smoothening, proxied as real operating cash flow and production expenditure smoothing of non-financial firms in Nigeria.Design/methodology/approachThe study relied on secondary data from annual financial statements of 75 firms in the non-financial sector from 2010 to 2019. The study estimated the residual audit fee using a modified model from several contexts to suit the Nigerian environment. The hypotheses were tested using the dynamic panel GMM estimation procedure.FindingsThe results showed a significant negative effect of residual audit fee on (real) operating cash flow smoothing and production expenditure smoothing of non-financial firms. The control variables showed mixed effects for the industry-related (firm size and profitability), auditor attribute (audit quality and audit report lag) and the board related (board size and board independence).Research limitations/implicationsThe firms included in the analysis were selected based on data availability from MachameRatios® and the occurrence of missing values for some of the variables used in the various estimation models may bias results.Practical implicationsThe study identifies the nexus between RAF and real earnings management practices of non-financial firms; and shows the implication of fee payment to the overall conduct of the audit. More so, the mixed findings from the CVs suggest that in the context of developing economies, shareholders and capital markets regulators should be watchful of residual audit fees and utilise it as a gauge for audit quality and also an indicator of opportunism and weak internal control in the firm in the future assessments.Social implicationsThe implication of the study stems from its relevance to the capital market stability and the potential negative disastrous effect of corporate failure from earnings management practices.Originality/valueThe study develops a newly residual audit fee model to explore the effect of RAF on real income smoothing rather than the widely used models from prior literature; secondly, the focus on real activities manipulation may present additional evidence that applies to developing countries rather the widely used accrual measurement technique from an economic bonding perspective.

PurposePrior studies have shown that heterogeneity plays a crucial role in addressing soft issues linked to a firm’s corporate social responsibility stance. The purpose of this paper is to extend the prior literature on the effect of gender heterogeneity on environmental, social and economic performance dimensions, specifically, whether the female boardroom presence weakens or strengthens the performance along the three dimensions, commonly referred to as the corporate sustainability.Design/methodology/approachThe study from a positivist philosophy adopts a quantitative approach, and the final sample consisted of forty-six companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange for the year 2011–2018. The final sample was a balanced panel of 344 firm years. The dependent variables were return on assets (ROA), environmental performance (ENV) and donations made for social causes (SOP). The ENV was measured using a content scoring system, with range of 1 to 5. The data were analysed using the fixed effects and GLM regression models. To further address the issue of endogeneity, a two-stage least squares regression was conducted.FindingsThe findings show a positive relationship between gender heterogeneity and ROA, which was also confirmed for the environmental performance index. However, the sign reversed in the SOP model and showed a negative relationship between gender heterogeneity and donations, the proxy for SOP. The results are in tandem with the stakeholder axioms that argue that commitment to other stakeholder groups strengthens firm performance in the long run.Research limitations/implicationsAn implication of this study is the fact that information availability has been rapidly escalating in the country, leading to rising social movements and civic unrest; therefore, corporations that face negative castigations may pay the huge price of product boycott and loss of market value.Originality/valueThe findings of this study provide additional insight into the influence of female boardroom presence on the environmental, social and economic performance of firms. The findings suggest the relevance of the resource dependence theory, especially from a developing country context, to ensure an improved corporate governance structure in Nigerian manufacturing firms.

The study tests the moderating effect of monitoring on the corporate tax avoidance- shareholders’ returns nexus in quoted Nigerian firms. Using an ex-post facto design, annual financial data were collected from 54 non-financial firms from various sectors of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Analyses were carried out involving the Ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression within the framework of E-view 9.0. The study demonstrates that corporate tax avoidance positively impacts shareholders returns in quoted non-financial firms in Nigeria and the effect is improved with better monitoring mechanism in place. We also observe improvement in the liquidity, profitability, expected growth and tangibility of the sampled firms when tax avoidance behavior are well monitored. We recommend among other things that shareholders put in place a monitor mechanism to check management in the use of tax savings to ensure it is in shareholders’ interest.