Environmental Accounting Practices and Stakeholder Value of Selected Listed Companies in Nigeria

Abstract

The corporate legitimacy of operations and corporate brand of companies have been enhanced when companies cultivate environmental accounting practices reflecting their operations' transparency and accountability. Incidentally, Prior studies have shown that stakeholder value had deepened greatly due to inadequate environmental accounting practices in Nigeria. However, the extent of environmental accounting practice in Nigeria remains uncertain. Consequently, this study examined the effect of environmental accounting practices on stakeholders' value of selected listed companies in Nigeria. The study employed an expo facto research, using data sourced from the financial statements of the selected companies. The study population consisted of 173 listed companies in Nigeria, while 20 companies were selected using a purposive sampling technique for a period of 15 years spanning from 2007 to 2021, giving 225 observations. The validity and reliability of the data were premised on the certification of the financial statements by the external auditors. Pooled panel regression was employed for the data analysis based on the Global Reporting Initiatives index of environmental accounting practices. Based on the analysis, the results revealed that environmental accounting practices had a positive effect on stakeholders' value in Nigeria (AdjR² = 0.164; F/Wald test (5, 294) = 16.44; p <0.05). The study recommended that managers should comply with environmental accounting practices, while the environmental regulators should insist on corporate compliance with the existing environmental accounting practices and sanction defaulting companies.