FIRM CHARACTERISTICS AND SOCIAL SUSTAINABILITY DISCLOSURE AMONG MANUFACTURING COMPANIES IN NIGERIA

Abstract

Social sustainability disclosure is crucial for ensuring corporate transparency, building stakeholder trust, and improving financial performance. Evidence from literature showed that Poor or non-existent social sustainability disclosure in manufacturing companies poses significant risks, ranging from immediate reputational damage to long-term financial decline and loss of the "social license to operate. Research has further shown that not many manufacturing companies have integrated firm characteristics in their operations. The study therefore, examined the effect of firm characteristics on social sustainability disclosure among listed manufacturing firms in Nigeria. The population of the study consisted of 51`listed manufacturing companies in the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and a sample of 36 companies that have consistently published their annual audited financial report and accounts for the period of 2014 to 2023 were used. The data collected were secondary and analyzed using descriptive statistics, correlation analysis, binary logistic regression and multiple regressions technique. The regression results showed that firm size had a positive and a significant effect on social sustainability disclosure of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria at p-value < 0.05, firm profitability had a negative and a significant effect on social sustainability disclosure of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria at p-value < 0.05, firm leverage had a negative and a significant effect on social sustainability disclosure of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria at p-value < 0.05 and firm growth had a positive and an insignificant effect on social sustainability disclosure of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria at p-value > 0.05. The study concluded that firm characteristics enhanced social sustainability disclosure in listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria. The study recommended that stakeholders of listed manufacturing companies in Nigeria should continue to expand the size of the firm in order to increase the level of sustainability disclosure.