Firm Attributes and Accounting Information Disclosure by International Oil Producing Companies In Nigeria

The nature and types of information to be disclosed in published financial reports are regulated mainly by accounting standards. The extent to which companies comply with these standards varies between companies and between industries. This study examines the effects of company attributes on accounting information disclosure by international oil companies in Nigeria. The sampling frame of the study consists of international oil companies involved in joint venture agreement in Nigeria. The quality of disclosure is measured by a constructed index based on the disclosure requirements of SAS 14. The study used secondary data obtained from the annual accounts and reports of the international oil companies in Nigeria for the period 2002-2011. Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) pool regression analysis was used to test the effects of company size, quantity of oil produced, oil reserve, profitability, liquidity, age, and provision intensity on disclosure of accounting information by the sampled companies. The findings revealed that size, level of production, oil reserve, liquidity and profitability are major determinants of level of compliance by international oil companies. The study also revealed that existing reserve disclosure practices are largely discretionary. On the basis of these findings, the study recommends that board of directors of the international oil companies should strive to maintain a steady increase in company size, profitability and oil production as these factors have the propensity of improving the level accounting information disclosure in the companies.