CREATIVE ACCOUNTING AND CORPORATE FAILURE IN NIGERIA

The study examines the effect of firm characteristics and financial reporting quality in Nigerian quoted companies. Financial reporting quality is to provide high- quality of financial reporting information concerning economic entities, primarily financial in nature, useful for economic decision making. The research design adopted in this study falls within the paradigm of robust panel data design type which is the combination of both cross-sectional and time series design properties, the study uses archival data in the form of companies’ annual reports and analyzed using Ordinary Least Square (OLS) method regression, was the statistical tool used for the data analysis and test of hypotheses, using a sample of 30 companies listed in Nigerian Stock Exchange. The results indicate that profitability was positively and significantly associated with
financial reporting quality proxy by discretionary accrual. It was also found that negative and insignificant relationship exists between financial leverage and financial reporting
quality proxy by discretionary in Nigerian quoted companies. The study therefore, recommends that companies listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange to reduce their
financial leverage as this may tends toward financial reporting quality in Nigerian firms.