Usefulness of Voluntary Disclosures in Annual Reports of Listed Companies in Nigerian: An Examination of Users’ Perception (Published)
In spite of the increase in firms disclosing information beyond mandatory information to meet the broad range of users’ information needs, there is limited knowledge from Nigeria as a developing economy on whether voluntary disclosures are useful for the user’s judgments and decisions. That is, research validating that additional disclosures enhance users’ decision making is limited. The purpose of this study is to evaluate whether users in Nigeria perceive voluntary disclosures in annual reports to be useful when making investment decisions. To measure users’ perception, survey research design was employed. Relevant data were obtained from survey of seven user groups (Investors, Accounting Practitioners, Regulators, Financial analysts, Academics, Customers and Students) in South East Zone of Nigeria to test the hypothesised usefulness. Empirical results were obtained through one sample t-test using SPSS software. Results revealed that voluntary disclosure of forward looking information is reliable for detecting earnings management. Voluntary disclosure of sustainability, environmental and social issues provide better understanding of companies’ long term performance. Based on the findings, it was recommended among other things that companies in Nigeria should adopt voluntary disclosures to supplement the conventional reporting model, since the new forward looking reporting framework create longer term value, and also drives quality capital market decisions.
Citation: Emeka-Nwokeji, N. A., Ekwueme, C. M.,Okeke, P. C.(2021) Usefulness of Voluntary Disclosures in Annual Reports of Listed Companies in Nigerian: An Examination of Users’ Perception, International Journal of Business and Management Review,Vol.9, No.5, pp.22-48
Keywords: Earnings Management, Perception, Reliability, Usefulness, Voluntary Disclosure, forward looking information