Government Expectation and Corporate Value of Public Companies in Nigeria
The Nigerian business environment is rocked with scandals of social, environmental and governance shortcomings which are indications that companies in Nigeria have not prioritized the welfare and expectations of their stakeholders. This has led to distrust and loss of relevance in the global financial markets. This study is conducted to investigate the effect of stakeholders’ engagement on corporate value of public companies in Nigeria. The study adopted ex-post facto and longitudinal research designs. The population of the study comprises 156 public companies in Nigeria as at December 31, 2021. The sample size consists of 80 public companies purposively selected having met the selection criteria adopted. Data were obtained from secondary source via the published annual reports of targeted public companies covering a period of 2009 to 2021. Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics and panel regression analysis. The study found that income effective tax rate as proxy for government expectation showed a negative but insignificant effect on corporate value. The study concluded that the extent of government expectation insignificantly decreases corporate value in Nigeria. The study therefore recommended that government and its tax agencies should increase corporate taxes, enforce and monitor compliance with the payments, and at the same time embark on infrastructural development with the resources gotten from corporate taxes in order to encourage public companies to see the needs for the payment of corporate taxes. Keywords: Government expectation, income effective tax rate, corporate value, market capitalization. JEL Classification: G30, G32, H25