Corporate environmental reporting practices

<div><div>Title Page ————————————————————–.. i Declaration————————————————————– ii Certification————————————————————.. iii Dedication————————————————————–. iv Acknowledgements——————————————————– v Abstract—————————————————————-.. vi Table of Content———————————————————- vii List of Tables————————————————————. viii List of Figures———————————————————— ix Appendices————————————————————– x Acronyms and Definitions————————————————–. xi

Chapter ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.0Background of the Study————————————————– 1
1.1Statement of Research Problem—————————————-.. 5
1.2Objectives of Study————————————————–. 8
1.3Research Questions——————————————————————.. 9
1.4Research Hypotheses—————————————————————— 9
1.5Significance of the Study——————————————–.. 10
1.6Justification of Study————————————————.. 11
1.7Scope and Limitation of Study—————————————— 11
1.8Summary of Research Methodology————————————.. 14
1.9Sources of Data —————————————————-. 15

Chapter TWO

LITERATURE REVIEW

and Theoretical Framework
2.0Introduction ————————————————–.—- 23
2.1The Concept of Social Responsibility Accounting and Environmental Accounting——————————————————–. 23
2.2What is Environmental Accounting——————————..——.. 25
2.3The Emergence of Environmental Accounting————————–..–. 28
2.4Scope of Environmental Accounting—————————-..——– 30
2.5What are Environmental Costs——————————————. 31 2.
5.1Identification of Environmental Costs———-..————.. 31
2.6Corporate Environmental Reporting————————..————. 35 2.
6.1Types of Environmental Reporting————————–.. 39 2.
6.2The Principles of Environmental Reporting——————– 41 2.
6.3Why voluntary environmental reporting———————-.. 43
2.7Global Environmental Reporting Practices——————————–.. 45 2.
7.1Environmental Reporting Development in Europe————–. 46 2.
7.2  North American Environmental Reporting Practice————– 48 2.
7.3  The Asian Experience in Environmental Reporting———-..–.. 50 2.
7.4  The Development of Environmental Reporting in-Australia——.. 50 2.
7.5  Environmental reporting in African Continent———-.——.. 52 2.
7.6  The Nigerian Scenario————————————. 52 2.
7.7Historical Background on Environmental Regulation in Nigeria-and Firmsâ€Ÿ Attitude————————————————–.. 54 2.
7.8Environmental Waste Management Laws in Nigeria————. 56 2.
7.9The Nigerian Environmental Laws / Regulations and the Prescribed Sanctions———————————-.. 56 2.
8.0The South African Scenario——————..————. 59
2.9Prior Research on Company Characteristics & Corporate Environmental Reporting——————..————————————–.. 60
2.10Theoretical Framework————————————————————–.. 77 2.
10.1Framework for Environmental Reporting————————–.   77 2.
10.2Political Economy Theory——————————————. 78 2.
10.3Legitimacy Theory————————————————– 81 2.
10.4Stakeholder Theory————————————————.. 85 2.
10.5Stakeholder Theory and Corporate Environmental Reporting———————————————-90 2.
10.6Environmental Disclosures and Relevant Financial Reporting-Standards——————————————–.. 91 2.
10.7Environmental Performance Indicators————.——–.. 97 2.
10.8Types Environmental Performance Indicators———-..—-.. 98 2.
10.9Overview of ISO————————————–.. 101

Chapter THREE

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

Research Methods
3.0  Introduction——————————.————————– 127
3.1Research Design————————————–..————– 127
3.2Study Population————–.———————————-..–.. 129
3.3Sample Size and Sampling Technique for Secondary Data——————– 129
3.4Sample Size and Sampling Technique for Primary Data————————.. 130
3.5Data Gathering Method—————————————-..——. 131 3.
5.1Sources of Data—————————————-.. 131 3.
5.2Research Instruments————————————.. 132 3.
5.3Validity and Reliability of Instrument————————. 135 3.
5.4Actual Field Work and Administration of Questionnaire Instruments——————————————–. 136 3.
5.5Method of Presentation————————..———-. 137
3.6Data Analysis Method——————————–.—————- 137

Chapter FOUR

DATA PRESENTATION AND ANALYSIS

and Result Presentation
4.0Introduction————————————–.—————-.. 148
4.1  Data Presentation and Analysis——————————————————. 148 4.
1.1  Results on Incidence of Corporate Environmental Disclosure ——————..———————————-. 149 4.
1.2  Content “Category Themes of Corporate Environmental Disclosure—————————————————-.. 151 4.
1.3  Content-Category Disclosure of Environmental-Information by Evidence————————..——– 154 4.
1.4Content-Category Disclosure of Environmental-Information by Location——————————————–.. 157 4.
1.5Content-Category Disclosure of Environmental-Information by News-Type——————————– 158
4.2Data Analysis——————————————————– 159 4.
2.1Descriptive statistics on the level of Corporate Environmental Disclosure between Nigerian and South African firms——–.. 159 4.
2.2Impact of Size, Operating Performance and Nature of -Firms on Level of Corporate Environmental Disclosure ——–.. 160 4.
2.3Overall Findings from the Two Countries———-.———- 160 4.
2.4Descriptive Statistics for Averaged ROTA, D/E Ratio, Size and EDISC for Selected firms in Nigeria———————-. 161 4.
2.5Descriptive Statistics for Averaged ROTA, D/E Ratio, Size and EDISC for Selected Firms in South Africa—————- 162 4.
2.6Correlation Coefficient Analysis of the Relationship between the-averaged ROTA, D/E Ratio, Size and EDISC for firms in Nigeria1———————————————-..164 4.
2.7Correlation Coefficient Analysis of the Relationship between the averaged ROTA, D/E Ratio, Size and EDISC for firms in South Africa——————————————–167 4.
2.8Regression Analysis Results—————————————-.. 168
4.3Presentation of Survey Results——————————————————..   170 4.
3.1Personal Bio-Data of Respondents————————– 172 4.
3.2Descriptive Statistics of Respondents——————————– 175 4.
3.3Reponses on Environmental Regulation/Protection————.. 176 4.
3.4  Reponses on Firmsâ€Ÿ Environmental Disclosure Level——–.–.. 178 4.
3.5Reponses on Respondents on ED as it Influence the activities of-Lobby Groups—————————————— 182
4.4Hypotheses Testing———————————-..————–.. 186

Chapter FIVE

SUMMARY, CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS

of Findings, Conclusion and Recommendations
5.0Introduction——————. ——————————————————.   194
5.1Summary of Work Done——————..————————–. 194
5.2Summary of Findings————————————————. 195 5.
2.1Theoretical Findings————————————.. 195 5.
2.2Empirical Findings————————————————–..   197
5.3Conclusion————————————————————————–..   202
5.4  Recommendations and Implication of study——————————..203
5.5Contribution to Knowledge——————————————————–.. 207 References————————————————————–. 210Table
2.0  Oil Spillage Data in Nigeria (Niger Delta)————————–54 Table
4.0 Industry Based Analysis on Averaged Environmental Disclosure for -Selected Firms in Nigeria————————————–.. 150 Table
4.1 Industry Based Analysis on Averaged Environmental Disclosure for -Selected Firms in South Africa———————————-.. 151 Table
4.2 Averaged Content-Category Theme of Environmental Disclosure for-Selected Industries in Nigeria——————————–. 153 Table 4.3  Averaged Content-Category Theme of Environmental Disclosure for-Selected Industries in South Africa——————————.. 154 Table
4.4 Descriptive Statistics for Content Category of Themes Disclosure———— 154 Table 4.5  Averaged Content-Category Disclosures by Evidence for Selected -Industries in Nigeria——————————————.. 156 Table 4.6  Averaged Content-Category Disclosures by Evidence for Selected -Industries in South Africa————————————–.. 156 Table 4.7  Averaged Content-Category Disclosures by Location for Selected -Industries in Nigeria & South Africa——————————. 157 Table 4.8  Averaged Content-Category Disclosures by News Type for Selected-Industries in Nigeria & South Africa——————————. 158 Table
4.9  Z-test Two Sample Means———————————-.. 159 Table 4.10  Descriptive Statistics for selected Nigerian firms———-..———- 162 Table 4.11    Descriptive Statistics for selected South African firms————.—- 164 Table 4.12  Classification of Correlation——————..—————— 164 Table 4.13  Correlations (Pearson) for Selected Listed Firms in Nigeria———-.– 166 Table 4.14  Correlations (Pearson) for selected firms in South Africa———-.—- 168 Table 4.15  Summarized Regression Results on the Relationship between Size, Operating Performance and the Nature of firms on the level of Corporate Environmental Disclosure from both Countries————.   170 Table 4.16(a)  Response to Questionnaire——————.——————– 171 Table 4.16(b) Summary of Questionnaire Administered————————–.. 171 Table 4.17  Bio-Data of Respondents——————..——————–. 173 Table 4.18  Distribution of Respondents on Environmental Regulation/Protection——————————————..176 Table
4.19 Distribution of Respondents on Firmsâ€Ÿ Environmental Disclosure Level–. 179 Table 4.20  Distribution of Respondents in both countries on Environmental Disclosure as it Influence the Activities of Lobby Groups————–.182</div></div><h3></h3>

Project Abstract

Environmental issues have emerged in recent decades as a major aspect of the discussion of the problems of economic growth and development. Environmental problems associated with industrial activities in the final decades of the last century have heightened public concerns about the non-financial performance of corporations and increased pressure for the disclosure of environmental information. Over the past decades, there have been plethoras of literature on corporate environmental disclosures, including studies majorly from developed countries, while the same is not true of developing countries, particularly Nigeria. Moreso, while there is an extensive research on the role of the Global Reporting Initiative and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) guidelines in determining corporate environmental performance indicators and the extent of disclosures in annual report in developed economies, in contrast, there is a dearth of studies conducted in the context of developing economies. To this end, this research investigated the extent and nature of corporate environmental reporting practice among listed firms in Nigeria and South Africa. Also, using the stakeholder theory as motivation for corporate environmental disclosures, the research examined the perception lobby groups on the disclosure of environmental performance information and the corporate relationship with host community. To achieve this, a grand total of 900 copies of questionnaire were distributed among members of the selected state/provinces using the Yaro Yamani sample selection formula in determine the sample size of the study. In addition, while the content analysis technique was used as a basis for eliciting data from the annual report and corporate websites of the selected companies, the multiple regression method of data analysis was used to investigate the relationships that exist between operating performance, financial leverage (nature), size of firmsâ€Ÿ and the level of corporate environmental disclosure   among the selected listed firms in Nigeria and South Africa. The research as part of its findings observed that there is a significant positive relationship between the operating performance, size of firms and the level of corporate environmental disclosures among selected firms in Nigeria. This is however consistent with existing prior studies. The study also observed that a significant negative relationship exists between the financial leverage of firms (proxied by debt -to-equity ratio) and the extent of corporate environmental disclosure. The study therefore concludes that despite the disclosure level noticed among firms, corporate environmental reporting practice in developing countries like Nigeria and South Africa is still very adhoc, general, self-laudatory and voluntary in nature.

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