FACULTY OF MANAGEMENT SCIENCES

This research delves into investigating Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Corporate performance. Despite considerable interest in the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate performance, prior studies have been limited particularly in developing countries like Nigeria, where the concept of corporate social responsibility has not been properly understood by most organizations. The study's target population was the financial institutions listed on the Nigerian Exchange
Group (NGX) as at 31st December, 2022. The sample size was precisely all the listed registered commercial banks. These banks include Access Bank, Eco Bank, Fidelity Bank, First Bank, First City Monument Bank, Guaranty Trust Bank, Stanbic IBTC Holding, Sterling Bank, Union Bank, United Bank for Africa, Unity Bank, Wema Bank and Zenith Bank. A casual research design was employed. The ordinary Least Square (OLS) regression with the aid of EViews version 10 software packages was used to analyze the data to access the relationship between corporate Social responsibility (CSR) and corporate performance. The research reveals a positive association between Economic Dimension of Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Performance and a negative association between the Social and Environmental Dimension on Corporate performance. As a result, the study recommends that regulatory authorities and companies should prioritize CSR, integrating it into their policy statements and supporting it with adequate budgets. Furthermore, the government should establish well-defined regulations for addressing corporate social responsibility issues and ensure their full implementation.

This study empirically examined the determinants of financial reporting quality of listed deposit money banks in Nigeria. The study employs secondary sources of data from the financial statements for the period of six years (2015– 2020). Random Effects Regression technique of data analysis was used in the analysis of data. The study found a significant positive relationship between firm size, firm liquidity, board size and board diversity and financial reporting quality, while an insignificant relationship was found between firm leverage during the period under review. In view of the foregoing empirical findings, it is recommended that: despite the structural and administrative complexities that are associated with larger companies, managers should deploy a means of reporting quality financial statement in order to boost the investors’ confidence in the organization; managers of deposit money banks in Nigeria should strive for improved liquidity level if they are to enjoy quality financial reporting; banks should maintain adequate and effective corporate governance practices (board size and board diversity); and in relation to firm leverage, banks should ensure an optimum leverage level is maintained as such would continuously minimise the adverse effect of leverage on financial reporting quality.

The investigation centered on the correlation amid official development assistance (ODAO), inflow of foreign remittances (FRO), and the economic advancement in Nigeria spanning from 1986 to 2022. To scrutinize the data, the autoregressive distributed lags (ARDL) methodology was employed. The outcomes generally revealed that, over the long term, official development assistance (ODAO) exhibits a weak positive link with Nigeria's economic growth. On the other hand, the inflow of foreign remittances (FRO) holds an inconsequential negative influence on the nation's economic expansion over the extended period. Furthermore, the factor of financial openness (FOPN) does not exert any discernible impact on growth. In the short term, the exchange rate (EXCHR) significantly demonstrates a negative effect on economic growth. In addition, past values of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) wield a more considerable influence on Nigerian economic growth in the short term compared to current values. One of the suggestions put forth by the study is that the insignificant adverse effect of outbound foreign remittances (FRO) on economic growth underscores its detrimental nature. This aspect has the potential to amplify domestic economic growth constraints, undermine local investments, and lead to a decline in overall tax revenue. Hence, it is imperative for policymakers and governmental bodies to actively pursue strategies that discourage the outflow of capital in the form of remittances. For instance, imposing limits on repatriating a portion of domestic earnings could alleviate financial constraints, invigorate domestic investments, and enhance tax inflow. By ardently pursuing such measures, the positive impact of FRO on Nigeria's economic growth can be effectively harnessed

Accounting regulations play a crucial role in ensuring transparency, comparability, and investor confidence in financial reporting. However, compliance with these regulations often imposes significant financial and operational burdens on businesses, particularly in developing economies such as Nigeria. This study examines the effects of accounting regulations on the cost of doing
business in Nigeria, with a specific focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The research explores key cost components, including audit fees, employee training expenses, technology investments, and consultancy fees required for regulatory compliance. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study collects data from SMEs in Benin City, Nigeria, through structured surveys and interviews. The findings reveal that compliance costs constitute a major operational challenge, disproportionately affecting SMEs with limited financial resources and technical expertise. The study also highlights that frequent amendments to accounting standards further increase the complexity and cost of compliance, leading to operational disruptions and reduced profitability. While large corporations have the capacity to absorb these costs, SMEs often struggle, raising concerns about business sustainability and economic growth. The study provides valuable insights for policymakers, regulatory authorities, and business owners by recommending measures to reduce compliance costs while maintaining financial transparency. These include the provision of regulatory support for SMEs, government incentives for compliance, and capacity-building initiatives to enhance financial literacy among business owners. By addressing the challenges posed by accounting regulations, this research contributes to the broader discourse on regulatory efficiency and business sustainability in Nigeria.

This study investigated the effect of audit client attributes on firm performance using panel data of twelve banks for the period 2015 – 2022. The variables considered were firm performance proxied by return on assets, firm size, firm age, firm leverage, and board size.The study carried out a histogram normality test, Breusch-Pagan-Godfrey test of heteroskedasticity, Ramsey RESET model specification test, Serial correlation test, correlation analysis and regression analysis. The F-statistics indicated that all the
explanatory variables taken together are statistically significant. The regression result revealed that board size and firm age have a negative and insignificant influence on firm performance. The firm leverage maintains a positive and significant relationship with firm performance firms considered. The study recommended that firm managers should focus on optimizing firm leverage to improve their firm performance and the firm should ensure that the board size is well regulated.

This study investigated the impact of factors of leadership style on the engagement of non- academic staff at the University of Benin yielded. The study targeted a sample of fifty-two (52) respondents, in which a total of 52 questionnaires were distributed and a total of fifty (50) questionnaires was filled, retrieved, cleaned and used for this study. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 and descriptive statistics was used to present the results while regression test was employed to make findings on the research hypotheses. Notably, while economic factors and intended goals both showed a positive correlation with employee engagement, their effects were found to be statistically insignificant. In contrast, leaders' communication skills and emotional intelligence emerged as significant drivers of employee engagement. Based on these findings, the following recommendation were made that: the institution’s management should prioritize leadership training on soft skills as doing so would bolster leaders' ability to communicate effectively and enhance their emotional understanding and empathy; incentive structures should be redefined by considering a mix of non-tangible benefits that might cater to emotional and interpersonal aspects of job satisfaction and engagement; clear and collaborative goals should be set; open communication channels should be fostered in institution; the institution should implement emotional intelligence assessments which can inform recruitment decisions, highlight areas for improvement, and guide personalized training and development interventions; and adoption of continuous feedback loop

Accounting regulations play a crucial role in ensuring transparency, comparability, and investor confidence in financial reporting. However, compliance with these regulations often imposes significant financial and operational burdens on businesses, particularly in developing economies such as Nigeria. This study examines the effects of accounting regulations on the cost of doing business in Nigeria, with a specific focus on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The research explores key cost components, including audit fees, employee training expenses, technology investments, and consultancy fees required for regulatory compliance. Using a mixed-methods approach, the study collects data from SMEs in Benin City, Nigeria, through structured surveys and interviews. The findings reveal that compliance costs constitute a major operational challenge, disproportionately affecting SMEs with limited financial resources and technical expertise. The study also highlights that frequent amendments to accounting standards further increase the complexity and cost of compliance, leading to operational disruptions and reduced profitability. While large corporations have the capacity to absorb these costs, SMEs often struggle, raising concerns about business sustainability and economic growth. The study provides valuable insights for policymakers, regulatory authorities, and business owners by recommending measures to reduce compliance costs while maintaining financial transparency. These include the provision of regulatory support for SMEs, government incentives for compliance, and capacity-building initiatives to enhance financial literacy among business owners. By addressing the challenges posed by accounting regulations, this research contributes to the broader discourse on regulatory efficiency and business sustainability in Nigeria.

The study examined forensic accounting and fraud prevention in Nigeria. The studyspecifically used three research objectives to carry out the study, the objectives were todetermine the relationship between Pre-trial Support and Fraud prevention; to ascertain the relationship between Expert Witnessing and Fraud prevention; and to find out the relationship between Special Master Engagement and Fraud prevention. However, the geographical scope of this study was limited to Edo State in Nigeria due to constraints (security and financial resource) which restricted a nationwide journey to all states in
Nigeria. The population of the study consists of qualified accountants and lawyers in both private and public sector resident in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Where qualified accountants are those chartered under Institute of Chartered Accountant of Nigeria and Association of National Accountants in Nigeria, and qualified lawyers are lawyers who have been called to bar. These Professionals were chosen because they are knowledgeable in this area of study and they provide experts/technical services during litigation in Fraud cases. The study adopted the Crochan’s (1977) sampling formula to arrive at the sample size. This sampling technique was adopted as it allows the researcher to reach out to accessible respondents that are available at a point in time. The data collected (primary and secondary data) are processed manually. The analytical tool used regression analysis, It was concluded that fraud has existed in Nigeria since the introduction of modern administrative structures. Today, Nigeria is being regarded as one of the most corrupt nations in the world despite the multiplicity of agencies and laws aimed at tackling Fraud
in Nigeria. A major challenge has been the inability of anti-Fraud agencies to secure convictions that will send a strong deterrent message that the commissions are in the business of fighting Fraud. Based on the findings and conclusion the researcher gives the necessary recommendations.

This study investigated the impact of factors of leadership style on the engagement of non- academic staff at the University ofBenin yielded. The study targeted a sample of fifty-two (52) respondents, in which a total of 52 questionnaires were distributed and a total of fifty (50) questionnaires was filled, retrieved, cleaned and used for this study. The data collected was analyzed using SPSS version 20.0 and descriptive statistics was used to present the results while regression test was employed to make findings on the research hypotheses. Notably, while economic factors and intended goals both showed a positive correlation with employee engagement, their effects were found to be statistically insignificant. In contrast, leaders' communication skills and emotional intelligence emerged as significant drivers of employee engagement. Based on these findings, the following recommendation were made that: the institution’s management should prioritize leadership training on soft skills as doing so would bolster leaders' ability to communicate effectively and enhance their emotional understanding and empathy; incentive structures should be redefined by considering a mix of non-tangible benefits that might cater to emotional and interpersonal aspects of job satisfaction and engagement; clear and collaborative goals should be set; open communication channels should be fostered in institution; the institution should implement emotional intelligence assessments which can inform recruitment decisions, highlight areas for improvement, and guide personalized training and development interventions; and adoption of continuous feedback loop.