ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, RISK, AND GOVERNANCE (ESRG) DISCLOSURE AND FIRM VALUE: EVIDENCE FROM LISTED NON-FINANCIAL FIRMS IN NIGERIA

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🔬研究者:Provides disaggregated evidence on ESG disclosure value relevance in an emerging market, relevant for comparative sustainability reporting research.

🏢実務担当者:Highlights that environmental disclosure may enhance firm value while social and governance disclosures could be perceived as costly; firms should tailor disclosure strategies accordingly.

🏛政策担当者:Suggests that mandatory ESG disclosure frameworks may need to consider differential impacts across dimensions, especially in emerging economies where investor trust varies.

The increasing demand for corporate transparency has heightened the importance of voluntary disclosures beyond mandatory financial reporting. However, empirical evidence regarding the influence of ESRG disclosures on firm value remains inconclusive, particularly within emerging economies such as Nigeria. Therefore, this study looked at the effect of Environmental, Social, Risk, and Governance (ESRG) disclosures on the value of listed non-financial firms in Nigeria. The study adopted an ex-post facto research design and utilized panel data obtained from the annual reports and accounts of 88 non-financial firms listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) covering the period 2015 to 2024, yielding 880 firm-year observations. Firm value was measured using Tobin's Q, while Environmental Disclosure (ED), Social Disclosure (SD), Risk Disclosure (RD), and Governance Disclosure (GD) were measured using disclosure indices constructed through content analysis based on the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) Framework. Disclosure items were scored using dichotomous approach, where (1) was assigned to disclosed items and (0) for not disclose. Panel regression analysis was employed to analyze the data of 880 firm-year observations. The findings reveal that environmental disclosure exerts a positive and significant effect on firm value, while social and governance disclosures exhibit negative and significant relationships, this outcome, indicating that investors may perceive certain disclosures as a symbolic compliance mechanism or as imposing additional costs without immediate economic benefits. Risk disclosure does not significantly influence firm value. The study concludes that voluntary disclosure remains ununiform across disclosure dimensions, as environmental disclosure enhances firm value in which social and governance disclosures reduce firm value in Nigeria context. The study contributes to the growing literature on sustainability reporting by showing disaggregated evidence on the individual effects of ESRG disclosure dimensions in an emerging economy. These findings have important implications for corporate managers, investors, regulators, and policymakers seeking t improve disclosure quality and firm valuation.

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