Globalisation, De-Globalisation, the Combination, and the Future of Value Chains

This study examined financial reporting quality and labour investment efficiency in selected manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The objectives were to investigate the impact of timeliness of financial report on labour investment efficiency of selected manufacturing firms in Nigeria; determine the impact of completeness of financial report on labour investment efficiency of selected manufacturing firms in Nigeria; and examine the impact of transparency of financial report on labour investment efficiency of selected manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Expost facto design was adopted. Data were collected from financial reports of Cadbury Nigeria Plc, Dangote Plc, Nigerian Breweries Plc and Guinness Nigeria Plc covering the period 2011 to 2023. The data were subjected to unit root test, cointegration, and multiple linear regressions. Findings revealed that timeliness of financial report has negative and insignificant impact on labour investment of selected manufacturing firms in Nigeria; Completeness of financial report has positive and significant impact on labour investment of selected manufacturing firms in Nigeria; transparency of financial report has significant impact on labour investment of selected manufacturing firms in Nigeria. It concluded that financial reporting quality positively impacts on labour investment efficiency. Regulators and stakeholders could improve the firms’ financial reporting quality and labour investment efficiency by strengthening the monitoring role of the top management team and ensuring timeliness in their financial reports. Executives should ensure shaping the firms’ future by giving more attention to labour recruitment and retention

This study examined the relationship between liquidity and profitability of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study specifically analyzed the effect of cash ratio, current ratio and quick ratio on profit after tax of the manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Secondary data were collected from annual reports of sampled firms over a period of ten years (2007-2016) and were analyzed using panel data estimators such as pooled OLS estimator, fixed effect estimator, random effect estimator, Hausman test, panel co-integration and pooled granger causality tests. The findings revealed that financial liquidity proxy in terms of quick ratio (QR) had a negative and insignificant impact on profit after tax with coefficient estimate of -0.094121 (p=0.2247 > 0.05). Financial liquidity measured in terms of Cash ratio (CR) exert positive and significant impact on profit after tax with coefficient estimate of 0.379774 (p=0.0121< 0.05). Result also showed that financial liquidity measured in terms of Current ratio (CNR) exert insignificant negative impact on profit after tax with coefficient estimate of -0.024989 (p=0.1163 > 0.05). Meanwhile the study revealed that quick ratio (QR), cash ratio (CR) and current ratio (CNR) has 0.581533 (58.1%) variation in profit after tax (PAT). Result further revealed that that there is no long-run relationship between liquidity and profitability of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study concluded that financial liquidity has helped to improve financial performance selected manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Also, that cash ratio has positive and significant effect on the profitability of manufacturing Firms in Nigeria. Thus, firms in the manufacturing industry should objectively try to reduce their bill receivable, so as to guide against waiting longer to collect from customers, for the purpose of increasing their profitability.

The study examined the effect of deposit money bank’s credit facilities and exchange rate on the corporate financial performance of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Data for the study were sourced from the annual reports and accounts of the sampled firms for the period of ten years spanning from 2013 to 2022, the collected data were analyzed using Panel regression analysis, result of the analysis showed that credit facilities had a significant and negative effect on the financial performance of the sampled manufacturing firms in Nigeria. It was also revealed that the effect of the exchange rate on the return on assets of manufacturing firms in Nigeria is significant and negative. Accordingly, the study concludes that sectoral allocation and exchange rate are significant determinants of financial performance. Considering the negative and significant effect of sectoral allocation and exchange rate on the profit of manufacturing firms in Nigeria the study therefore, recommends that the government of Nigeria should implement policies that would encourage lending and also ensure a stable exchange rate.

The study empirically analyzed the relationship between dividend policy and firm’s financial characteristics with a particular focus to consumer goods manufacturing companies in Nigeria. It utilized annual time series secondary data obtained from annual report and financial statements of the selected firms for the period of ten (10) years (2009-2018). Dividend policy was operationalized by Dividend per Share (DPS) and Dividend Payout Ratio (DPR) while the financial characteristics considered were Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Earnings per Share (EPS). Ex-post facto research design was adopted while analytical techniques employed were Pearson Product Moment Correlation (PPMC) and Pairwise Granger Causality analysis mechanism. Findings revealed that Dividend per Share (DPS) interacts positively with the selected firm’s financial characteristics while there is a negative and insignificant relationship between Return on Assets (ROA), Return on Equity (ROE), and Dividend Payout Ratio (DPR) of the selected firms. A positive relationship was maintained between DPR and EPS for the period. Meanwhile, the link between ROA and DPS was significant at 5% level. More so, evidence from the pairwise granger causality test revealed that there is no directional relationship between dividend policy and financial performance of consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria. On this background, the study suggested that the financial system be reformed to enhance the operational efficiency of the financial market so as to determine the profitability of quoted firms via the dividend policy channel. It was also recommended that Managers of consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria should ensure that they have well-structured dividend policies in place as this will make the company shares attractive to investors and however lead to increased stock prices and enhanced profitability.

Nigeria's manufacturing sector stands as a vital contributor to the nation's economy, driving industrialization, employment generation, and export diversification. Financial records are the heart of any business, giving an accurate and timely picture of its financial health to both internal and external constituents. However the difference in the earnings management practices of listed consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria has remained a subject f concern among participant in the Nigerian manufacturing sector. The study was carried out on selected consumer good manufacturing firms with a special focus on Ten (10) consumer goods firms in Nigeria using purposive sampling technique for the selection. The population of the study constituted twenty one (21) consumer goods firms in Nigeria registered and listed on the floor of the Nigerian Exchange Group (NXG) as specified on its official website as at May, 2024. All secondary data used were extracted from audited annual financial reports of selected consumer goods firms in Nigeria on Nigerian Exchange Group for the period 2009-2023. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was used to analyse the differences in earnings management practices in listed consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Findings from the result of PCA showed that PC1 represents the most dominant dimension of variation among the earnings management indicators. The loadings show that PC1 is heavily influenced by depreciation (DEP = 0.621) and cost of goods sold (COGS = 0.606). These high positive loadings suggest that firms manipulating depreciation and COGS policies tend to show similar patterns of earnings management. Meanwhile, accruals (ACC) have a strong negative loading (-0.427), indicating that firms with high usage of depreciation and COGS-based manipulation likely exhibit lower accrual-based manipulation. This contrast reflects a trade-off in earnings management strategies—some firms prefer real earnings management (like COGS/DEP), while others lean on accruals. The study concluded there are significant differences in the earnings management practice of listed consumer goods manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study therefore recommends that firms should implement stronger internal controls to reduce managerial discretion in financial reporting.

Corporate diversification is a center of research in strategic management and finance. Many firms are experiencing a decline in their traditional activities' dues to environmental challenges, including competition, inadequate infrastructural facilities, and economic instability. The study examines the effect of income diversification on the financial performance of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Specifically, it determines the impact of product income segment diversification and non-product income segment diversification on quoted manufacturing firms' financial performance in Nigerian. The study adopted an ex-post facto research design using secondary data of 42 firms from the 63 quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria for 11 years (2007-2017) period. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is utilized for data analysis. The study found that both product income segment diversification and non-product income segment diversification significantly affect the financial performance (ROA and ROCE variables) of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study concluded that quoted manufacturing firms' financial performance in Nigeria is significantly affected by product income segment diversification and non-product income diversification. The study recommended that manufacturing firms should strategically diversified to increase their income generation in both the product segment and non-product segment to improve their financial performance.

The study examines the impact of corporate governance on capital structure of the quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. This study used secondary data methodology to obtained annual report and sample of 28 out of 68 listed manufacturing firms on the Nigeria stock exchange over a period of ten years 2013-2022. The findings revealed significant and positive relationship between corporate governance and financial leverage of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Specifically, the board size coefficient is positive and statistically significant at the 0.01 level and shows a significant positive relationship between board size and financial leverage. The results further indicate a significantly positive relationship between CEO duality and leverage. The coefficient of dual in the model is positive (coef=0.402) and is significant (t=2.640) at the 0.01 level. However, board composition revealed a negative but significant relationship with financial leverage of the listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. It is recommended that management of manufacturing companies in Nigeria should always display creativity that will ensure good corporate governance so as to significantly drive down the gearing level of their companies.

Financial reporting quality connotes the accuracy with which financial reports of a firm reflect its operating performance and how useful they are in forecasting future cash flows. Indeed, the financial reporting quality has repeatedly been an area of interest for regulators, pollsters, proprietors of firms and the accounting profession as a result of its significance in having credible and reliable financial information for users’ consumption. This study investigated the effect of firm attributes on the financial reporting quality of selected manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study used a descriptive and ex-post facto research design; the sample size was twenty (20) firms, while data for the study were sourced from secondary sources, specifically annual reports and accounts of the selected manufacturing firms. Two categories of variables were used in this study: the dependent variable, financial reporting quality, and the independent variable, firm attributes, which were proxied by firm structure (Firm size) and board structure (Board size).Data generated for this study were analyzed using the First Difference Fixed Effects method of E-Views 10. Analyses were carried out using kurtosis, skewness, and mean. The study revealed that firm structure has a significant negative effect on the accounting reliability quality of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Furthermore, it also revealed that board structure has a insignificantly positive effect on the accounting reliability quality of listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Firm size: at level (current) is –0.266, statistically significant at 5% (p-value = 0.0025). This indicates a negative significant short-term relationship between firm size and conservative quality of accounts. While Board size: at (1st Diff.) is 0.665, statistically insignificant at 5% (p-value = 0.0810). This indicates a positive inconsequential short-term relationship between firm size and conservative quality of accounts. In conclusion, the study affirmed that firm attributes, such as firm size and board size, play a significant role in shaping financial reporting quality in the Nigerian manufacturing sector. Thus, it is recommended that manufacturing firms should avoid overly aggressive policies that incentivize rapid firm expansion in short run without complementary effective firm monitoring attributes. As well as ensure that they come up with support policies that promote a large-moderate board size of independent members with financial expertise to enhance financial prudency.

The study of firms’ competitiveness has drawn so much attention among business practitioners and academic researchers in the last two decades as globalization came fully into limelight. However, in Nigeria, there are few empirical studies conducted to investigate the relationship between firms’ competitiveness and firm performance.
 Thus, the main objective of this study was to provide further evidence on the effects of Firms’ Competitiveness (FC) on the performance of manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Ten large-scale quoted manufacturing firms were selected. The study relied on primary data which were obtained using structured questionnaire administered to 300 purposively selected respondents of the selected firms. The data collected was analysed using Chi-Square Analysis and correlation analysis as well as descriptive analysis in pursuance of the stated specific objectives of the study. The result showed that firms’ competitiveness had significant effects on the profitability and operational performance of the selected manufacturing firms.
 Also, firms’ competitiveness had positive relationship with the level of competition of the firms. This study concluded that the practice of firms’ competitiveness is sine qua non in boosting firm performance in the manufacturing firms in Nigeria.

Objective — to assess the oxidative status and severity of inflammatory processes in patients with hypertension (AH) and subclinical hypothyroidism (SH) and their relationship to the rate of aging.
 Materials and methods. 98 patients (38 men and 61 women) of young and middle age with a median age of 48.3 years were examined. All patients were divided into 3 groups: controls — healthy volunteers (n = 20), comparison group — euthyroid patients with AH and signs of autoimmune thyroiditis (AIT) (n = 36); main group — patients with AH and SH with signs of AIT (n = 42). Thyroid parameters, markers of oxidative stress (total superoxide dismutase, T‑SOD, total antioxidant activity, TAA, total hydroperoxides, THP), inflammatory markers (C‑reactive protein, SRP, tumor necrosis factor‑alpha, TNF‑a) were evaluated in all patients. The rate of aging was determined by estimating the biological age and age delta according to the methods of A. G. Gorelkin, B. B. Pinhasov (BA1, dBA1 respectively) and V. P. Voitenko (BA2, dBA2, respectively), as well as by determining the content of sirtuin 1 (SIRT1).
 Results. Significant differences were found between the controls and the comparison group in the rate of aging by both methods (p < 0.05), between the control and the main group in the levels of CRP (p = 0.000), TNF‑a (p = 0.000), aging rates by both methods (p < 0.05), as well as between the comparison and the main groups in the values of CRP (p = 0.001), TNF‑a (p = 0.000), THP (p = 0.041), T‑SOD (p = 0.048), SIRT1 (p = 0.001), dBA2 (p = 0.030). Correlation analysis revealed a significant (p < 0.05) direct relationship between the rate of aging and the level of CRP, free thyroxine, THP, THP/TAA index, and the inverse relationship between the rate of aging and T‑SOD, TAA in the comparison group. A significant direct relationship (p < 0.05) between CRP and BA1, a direct relationship between TNF‑a and thyroid‑stimulating hormone (TSH) levels and a direct association of T‑SOD with TSH and inverse one with BA1 were found in the main group.
 Conclusions. Patients with AH have a decrease in the rate of aging and a significant increase in SIRT1 compared with euthyroid patients with AH, that indicates a probable association with a slowing of aging rates. A significant increase in THP and a decrease in and T‑SOD levels, along with the presence of a connection with TSH and BA1, indicates a violation of redox processes in this category of patients and its association with aging rates. Patients with AH and SH also showed signs of metabolic inflammation, which was confirmed by a significant increase in the levels of TNF‑a, CRP, as well as by the presence of a direct link between TNF‑a and TSH. BA and aging rates increased with increasing CRP levels in euthyroid patients with AH, but no association between CRP and TSH was observed.

This study examined the effect of working capital management on the financial performance of selected Agricultural manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The components of working capital management are the inventory conversion period, accounts receivable period, accounts payable period, and current ratio while the financial performance is proxied by ROA. The study adopts an ex post facto research design. The population of the study comprised five Agricultural companies listed on the Nigerian Securities Exchange as of December 2022. A purposive sampling technique was used to select four companies that have complete data. Time series data were collected using secondary sources from the published financial statements of the companies and the Nigerian Stock Exchange from 2011 to 2022. Descriptive statistics and inferential statistics using correlation and regression analyses were employed for the statistical analyses. This study found that there is a negative and statistically insignificant effect of INVCP on the ROA of the selected agricultural manufacturing companies. Also, there is a negative statistically insignificant effect of ACRVP on ROA. However, there is a positive statistically insignificant effect of ACPP and current ratio on the ROA of the selected manufacturing firms. The study concludes that efficient and effective working capital management is of utmost importance in Agricultural manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The study recommends that there is a need for the implementation of strategies that focus on optimizing inventory management processes to reduce carrying costs without compromising operational efficiency. It is also suggested these companies need to address these challenges by optimizing receivables management. Keywords: Working Capital Management, Accounts Receivable Period, Accounts Payable Period, Return on Assets

Introduction: Medium-sized firms around the world are confronted with several challenges which have continued to hamper their growth chances. One of these issues is lack of global best practices in health and safety. This issue is pronounced among medium-sized manufacturing firms in Nigeria. It was against this backdrop that the study investigated the state of health and safety issues in selected Nigerian medium-sized manufacturing firms. Methods: Survey research design was adopted involving leading medium-sized manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Issues pertaining to health and safety were identified and analyzed. Data were gathered through administration of structured questionnaire and observation check list. Analyses were presented through appropriate statistical means. Results: Relatively secured work environment, workers’ exposure to hazard, absence and inadequate protective devices for workers, archaic fire system infrastructure, lack of insurance cover for workers, irregular health and safety training, inconsistent compliance to health and safety rules were found as the issues in selected Nigerian medium-sized manufacturing firms operating in Nigeria. Conclusion: Health and safety issues is a cog in the wheel of Nigerian medium-sized manufacturing firms. It is imperative to address this issue to strengthen the operations of the industry. The promotion and practice of hygienic health system and safety culture by workers and management must be the way of life in manufacturing firms.

ABSTRACTThis paper uses ordinary least squares with firm effects and Probit regression models to investigate the determinants of firm performance and the likelihood of firms to pay bribes. Results for the manufacturing firms in Nigeria show that skilled workforce, exports, foreign ownership and capital investment influence firm performance. Conversely, poor electricity delivery and difficulty obtaining finance impede firm performance. Total sales and time spent dealing with government regulations increase the likelihood of firms to pay bribes. Surprisingly, foreign firms are as much likely to pay bribes as domestic firms. Policy implications from the findings are important considering that the manufacturing sector assumes an important role in the Lewis theory of economic development.

Bolstering the role of human resource information system on employees’ behavioural outcomes of selected manufacturing firms in Nigeria

The study investigates the effect of audit quality on the relationship between accounting earnings and share prices of quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The current research uses secondary data extracted from 19 sample companies listed on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX), from 2006 to 2021. Pooled Ordinary Least Squares (POLS) are used to estimate the results. The findings reveal that earnings per share (EPS) statistically significantly and positively impact the share price of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The results also indicate that book value per share does not significantly explain the variations in share price. Interestingly, findings show that the moderating role of audit quality has a greater interaction effect with book value per share of quoted manufacturing firms in Nigeria. Finally, the results also show that earnings per share and book value per share have a combined significant effect on the share price of quoted manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The study has valuable insights and implications for shareholders, board members, practitioners, academicians, and policymakers. Further, the study contributes to the current literature by investigating the impact of audit quality on the relationship between accounting earnings and the share price of manufacturing companies. The agency, shareholders, and stakeholder theories support the findings, which contribute to a better understanding of the role of audit quality in the value relevance of accounting earnings information. We recommend among others the need for quality auditing of financial statements of companies to enhance financial performance.