The Impact of Environmental and Social Disclosures on the Financial Performance of Oil and Gas Companies in Nigeria

Abstract

This paper critically examines the effect of environmental and social disclosures on the financial performance of oil and gas companies in Nigeria. The study is crucial as it describes the level of environmental and social disclosures impact on companies' performance. This study uses environmental and social disclosures as independent variables while Returns on Assets (ROA) as a proxy for financial performance. The study formulates two hypotheses to guide the study and uses a panel regression model in testing the statistical parameter estimates. Ex Post Facto design was adopted and data were collected from the NSE Factbook and published financial statements of the oil and gas companies listed in the NSE with data ranging from 2010-2019. The findings of the study show that corporate environmental and social disclosures have a significant impact on companies' performance at a 5% significant level. Because of this, the study concludes that environmental and social disclosures have improved companies' performance over the years. The study also recommends that companies should have an optimistic outlook regarding environmental and social friendly services and also disclose more of such information in their financial statements as over the years the degree of disclosures of these information has exercised considerable impact on companies' financial performance.