Promoting the financial performance of registered multinationals through social financial management in Nigeria

Abstract

The paper examined the effect of social financial management on the financial performance of firms in Nigeria with much emphasis on the nine quoted oil and gas multinationals as of 31st December 2022. The study unlike prior studies decomposed social financial management into six broad categories which are Non-discriminatory policy, Employee Engagement, Support for Local Communities, Anti-Corruption & Public Policy, and Product Responsibility while firm performance was measured by return on investment (ROI). The study spanned from 2011 to 2022 (12 years) over 9 nine quoted oil and gas multinationals as of 31st December 2022 culminating in 108 observations. The most effective panel regression estimate was found using the Hausman test. According to the survey, there is no gender prejudice in the target businesses. Furthermore, nondiscriminatory policies and employee engagement have a negligible but favourable impact on the success of the company. This shows that, because they receive less attention, non-discriminatory policies and employee participation (collective bargaining & freedom of association) have little impact on the success of the company. Support for Local Communities, Public Policy & Anti-Corruption, and Product Responsibility, however, had a direct and significant impact on the targeted oil and gas multinationals' return on investment. Therefore, the study concludes that although social finance plays a significant role in the performance (or return on investment) of publicly traded oil and gas multinationals, more work must be done because most Nigerian businesses still lack a strong social conscience. Therefore, it is recommended that the management of listed international oil and gas companies give more information about employee engagement, non-discriminatory policies, anti-corruption & public policy, and product responsibility.