THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CORPORATE SOCIAL DISCLOSURES AND BOARD CHARACTERISTICS: EVIDENCE FROM NIGERIA

The concept of disclosure in the financial statements of an organization is pivotal to the existence of the firm. This study investigates the effect of board characteristics on corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosure of listed consumer goods firms on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, using a sample of ten (10) consumer goods firms. The study covers 10 years (2009-2018) and employed ex post facto research design. OLS regression analysis was adopted. The study found a positive significant relationship between two board characteristics (female directors on board and outside directors) and CSR disclosure of listed consumer goods firms in Nigeria. Therefore, with board characteristics explaining 33.7% of the variation in the CSR disclosure of these firms, we recommend that firms should be encouraged to continue to hire female directors and more of outside directors on their boards. These will improve CSR disclosure and in return benefit the firm legitimately. Keywords: Board characteristics, Corporate social responsibility disclosure, Legitimacy theory, Nigeria