Ownership Structure and Intangible Assets Disclosures among Financial Services Listed Companies in Nigeria

Abstract

This study examines the impact of ownership structure on intangible asset disclosures (IADs) among listed firms on the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) from 2014 to 2023. Using panel regression analysis within a random effect framework, the study examines the effects of CEO equity ownership, measured by percentage of shares held by a CEO, institutional equity ownership, managerial equity ownership, measured by percentage of equity held by directors and ownership concentration on disclosure practices. The study adopts the panel estimation technique, specifically, Random Effects Models (REM) to estimate the impact of ownership variables on IAD. The panel estimation technique is suitable due to the suspicion of heterogeneity problem in studies involving cross-sections. The empirical results reveal that institutional equity ownership exhibits a positive and significant impact on IAD, highlighting the role of institutional investors in promoting accountability and improved reporting quality. Managerial equity ownership also exhibits positive and significant relationship with IAD, indicating that managers with ownership stakes are more likely to disclose intangible assets comprehensively. Furthermore, ownership concentration demonstrates a significant inverse
relationship with IAD, indicating that firms with highly concentrated ownership disclose fewer intangible assets. Conversely, CEO equity ownership has a positive but statistically insignificant relationship with IAD, suggesting that executive shareholding alone does not enhance disclosure transparency. The study contributes to the corporate governance literature by emphasizing the importance of ownership configuration in enhancing the quality of financial reporting and stakeholder confidence in emerging markets.